Center for Flame Retardant Materials Science

Elias Toubia, School of Engineering

Static Test Machines

• MTS Torsion tester – up to 10,000 lbf-in (1130 N-m)
• MTS Load frame – up to 67,000 lbf (298 kN) in compression/tension
• Forney Servo-hydraulic compression station – 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) to 500,000 lbf (2224 kN) capacity

Instrumentation and Support Equipment

• CRP Panel Heater by Omega -4.5Kw, 0.3 x 0.3 m (12 x 12") Modular Panels
• Qualitest environmental chamber – -22° to 104°F (-30 to 40°C), interior space of 20”x26”x57” (51cm x 65cm x 146cm)
• High Accuracy Data Logger Dual Input, Handheld Thermometer with RS232C Interface and Software ( Part # HH506RA)
• Forney Cur-O-Matic Curing Box - holds 23 6"x12" (15cm x 30cm) concrete cylinders
• Adam Scale – up to 300 lbf (1.3 kN) in increments of 0.005 lbf (0.02N)
• Vishay MicroMeasurements strain gauge recorder – up to four input channels
• Vishay MicroMeasurements strain gauge scanner – up to 1200 inputs for strain gauges or strain gauge-based transducers, thermocouples, and sensors
• Shuttle Xpc 2D digital image correlation system
• DolphiCam Expert – non-destructive acoustic camera for damage assessment

Vladimir Benin, College of Arts and Sciences

Synthesis Lab

Synthesis lab (SC 418) furnished with standard equipment for the preparation and purification of small molecules and polymers

Instrumentation

Full access to all major instrumentation within and beyond the Department of Chemistry (Multinuclear NMR, GC-MS, several IR, UV-VIS and fluorescence instruments, single-crystal X-ray instrument, Linux-operated QuantumCube QS16-2500C-X64Q Parallel Cluster)

Alexander B. Morgan, University of Dayton Research Institute

The UDRI Fire Safety Science Laboratory (FSSL) offers more than three decades of experience in flame retardant research and fire safety for all materials (wood, plastic, composites, aircraft materials, metals, etc.) in all fire risk scenarios. We can deliver practical solutions to industrial, government and academic customers. We specialize in flame retardant and fire protection solutions that meet regulatory tests for all applications and materials in use today, including wildland fire and electric vehicle (lithium ion/alkali metal battery) fire protection. The FSSL also offers combustion and emissions research of burning materials for everything from energy recovery to development of more sustainable fire safety solutions and understanding broader fire hazards. The Quality Management System of the Fire Safety Science Laboratory is certified to ISO 9001:2015 (Eagle Certification Group, Cert No. 5587). 

Contracted projects with the FSSL can involve fire testing, product development, consulting, or any combination of these. We also offer literature searches and analysis for patent and proposal writing that take advantage of an extensive intelligent database of fire safety, fire science and flame retardancy papers. We can also provide consulting services for meeting regulatory tests, troubleshooting and product development. Finally, the FSSL can help customers connect with the broader UDRI range of services to design, make, and test materials before and after fire testing. With all projects, the customer owns all of the data and intellectual property unless UDRI is bringing existing technology to the project that requires licensing.

Capabilities

• Cone Calorimeter (ASTM E1354)
• Micro Combustion Calorimeter (ASTM D7309)
• UL-94 Test Station
• Horizontal Flammability Tester
• Vertical Flammability Tester
• Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter
• FAA Multi-Tester (Horizontal, Vertical, 45 degree tests)
• Autoignition Temperature Testing (ASTM E659)

Donald Klosterman, School of Engineering

Polymer/Composites Processing

• Wet laboratory facility, fume hoods, glove box, chemical storage, etc.
• Composites wet lay-up and vacuum bagging space
• Autocalve: ASC Econoclave (2 ft. x 4 ft., 800°F/427°C, 200 psi)
• Press: Wabash G75H-18-CX (15 in. x 15 in. platens, 150,000 lbs. force, 1000°F/538°C)
• Oven curing: Blue M / TPS (23.6 in. x 19.6 in. x 29.5 in. high, 500°F/260°C)
• VARTM cell: 2 ft. x 3 ft. table, vacuum pump, catch pot, resin degas chamber, vacuum bag supplies, etc.
• Tube furnaces: Lindberg Blue M (2730°F/1500°C, appox. 24 inches long), Lindberg Blue M (2000°F/1100°C, approx. 30 in. long)
• Wet saws for cutting composites
• Additive Manufacturing: Fortus 400 MC (plastic filaments), 3D Touch (plastic filaments), Concept Laser MLab cusing R (powder metals), SLM Solutions Inc. model SLM-125 with 400 W laser and melt pool temperature monitoring system (powder metals)

Characterization

• TGA: TA Instruments Q500 (25-1000°C)
• TMA: TA Instruments Q400 (-150-1000°C)
• DSC: TA Instruments Q2000 (-90-550°C)
• DMA: TA Instruments Q800 (-145-600°C)
• Simultaneous DSC / TGA: TA Instruments SDT-650 (25-1500°C)
• Rheometer: Anton Paar parallel plate rheometer MCR 302 (-150-450°C)
• FTIR: Thermo Scientific iS50 with ATR cell
• GPC: Viscotek with various detectors (RI, UV/Vis, dual detector)
• Raman: Renishaw inVia Raman microscope
• X-ray: Rigaku Smart Lab X-ray Diffractometer
• SEM: ProX Phenom table-top SEM
• Optical Microcosmos: Zeiss AX10 (50X, 100X, 200X, 500X, 1000X)
• Metallography: Buehler Automet / Ecomet 250 rotary grinding and polishing unit
• Various scales, and density / buoyancy fixture (ASTM D792)
• Mechanical testing: Instron 5985 load frame with various fixtures (tensile 30,000 lbs., compression, flexure, short beam shear, compression after impact), two load cells (56,000 lbs., 1124 lbs.), extensometers (25 mm, 50 mm), bonded strain gages, and alignment fixture with AlignPro software.