Product Information SubCASE® Pot Life and Curing Monitor for Reactive - Coatings Adhesives Sealants Elastomers based on reactive - PU, EP, UP, and MMA formulations Figure 1: The Test device SubCASE HT measures the pot life and the curing of reactive plastics. It is designed for high reaction temperatures. The core temperature is measured by a reusable thermocouple inserted vertically into the center of the plastic sample. Pot Life Monitor SubCASE is a laboratory device for measuring the pot life and the curing behavior of Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants and Elastomers (C.A.S.E.). The measurement device is especially designed for testing non-foaming polyurethane, epoxy and polyester formulations. The compact mechanical design of SubCASE combines dielectric polarization or relative permittivity measurement by using a CMD-sensor (Curing Monitor Device) and temperature measurement by a thermocouple and a PT transducer. CMD-Sensor The dielectric polarization is the key value in measuring chain formation and cross-linking of reactive plastics. It reveals the reaction profile of the entire chemical process starting off with the reactive mixture and finally ending with a cured compound. The CMD-sensor consists of two comb-shaped electrodes forming a plane capacitor. It is mounted onto the heated base plate of SubCASE and is protected by a foil, which avoids any direct contact between the reactive material and the sensor. The dielectric polarization and surface temperature data is obtained from the very beginning of the chemical reaction. Additionally, the core temperature in the center of the test sample is measured by means of a vertically inserted thermocouple (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 7). Testing under production near conditions is accomplished by Measurement of the relative permittivity using variable electric frequencies Patent No. 102004001725 temperature controlling the CMD-sensor to any production relevant temperature. Three SubCASE versions are available, the SubCASE 110°C (Fig. 4) with a maximum heater temperature of 110°C, the SubCASE HT (Fig. 1) with a maximum heater temperature of 150°C, and the SubCASE LT (Fig. 7), which needs to be connected to a circulating water bath for heating and cooling. The core temperature of the chemistry can exceed the maximum heater temperature. The sensor material of the CMDsensor is designed for these core temperatures. The user-friendly software SUBCASE controls the measurement cycle. It acquires, evaluates and displays the measurement data (Figs. 3, 5, 6, 8). Variable Electric Frequency The relative permittivity of the reactive material depends on the frequency of the applied electric field. SubCASE features a continuous scan mode of the electric field. This scan mode continuously varies the electric frequency while measuring the relative permittivity of the formulation during the reaction. Thus a better correlation of the relative permittivity and the macroscopic parameters can be established. Test Cycle Before starting a new test cycle a protection foil is rubbed onto the CMD-sensor using an adhesion promoting agent. A new cardboard

cylinder, which forms the test container is fastened with the clamp mechanism. The mixing time, the test time, and the heater temperature are free selectable parameters in the software SUBCASE. The reactive mixture can automatically trigger the data acquisition when poured into the test container. After the pouring, the cover plate together with the thermocouple (Fig. 4), that is protected by a disposable glass tube, can be placed onto the clamp mechanism for core temperature measurement. After completion of a test, physical values like pot life and curing are evaluated from the measured curves...

Figure 4: The test device SubCASE 110°C is designed for measuring the pot life and the curing of Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants and Elastomers with heating temperatures of up to 110°C. After filling the chemistry into the test container (left). The cover plate (right) with the metal sheathed thermocouple is placed onto the clamp mechanism of the cardboard cylinder. core temperature derivative dielectric polarization 400 Figure 5: Reaction profile of an epoxy (EP) resin measured with SubCASE HT. The core temperature (T2) is detected by a thermocouple centered in the test sample. The curves are...

Technical Data Pot Life Monitor measurement rate serial interface dimensions test cup diameter mass CMD-Sensor diameter polarization frequency Temperature Control SubCASE 110°C SubCASE HT SubCASE LT Temperature Probe thermocouple range External Power Supply SubCASE 110°C + LT 12 VDC, 5.5 A SubCASE HT 24 VDC, 4.0 A Order No. SubCASE 110°C SubCASE HT SubCASE LT Figure 7: The SubCASE LT for testing at low and constant temperatures. A temperature controlled circulating water bath is connected to the base plate. electric frequency dependency of the relative permittivity at low temperature best frequency...