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Soft Materials and Rheology Group Laboratory Overview We conduct predominantly experimental research on complex
fluids and on buckling phenomena. This page describes some of the principal
tools we use on a daily basis. If your research can use some of our expertise, please email
me. Please select equipment at right -> This is the workhorse rheometer in
our lab, a stress-controlled device equipped with a Peltier
plate for measurements close to room temperature, a convection/radiation
chamber for temperatures from -150C to +300C, several parallel plate and
cone-and-plate geometries, and a Couette cell. This is a strain-controlled rheometer
equipped with a Peltier plate and several measuring
geometries. We also have a custom-built flow-visualization cell that mounts
on the ARES rheometer for visualization of shear
flow along the shear-gradient direction. This is a custom-built spinning drop tensiometer
for measuring the interfacial tension between two immiscible fluids (or
surface tension of a fluid). It has a 12 mm diameter tube which can spin up
to 10000 rpm. An oven can maintain a temperature of upto
120C. Strobe-illuminated images are collected with a CCD camera. Our workhorse microscope is an Olympus CKX41 inverted
fluorescence microscope with several objectives ranging from 4x to 40x, and an area-scan black-and-white camera. We
also use awesome microscopes at the Center for
Biologic Imaging. Tension and compression testing We have an Instron 4200 tensile
testing machine with a 1000 kg load cell and either tensile or 3-point
bending grips. We also have a Texture Analyzer which can do both
tensile as well as compression testing, but at small loads (5 kg maximum). ·
Leitz
upright transmission microscope ·
Meiji
stereomicroscope with trinocular head ·
Plasma cleaner ·
Platen press (up to
300C) ·
Canon digital Rebel
SLR camera ·
30kV high-voltage
power supply (part of an electrospinning setup) ·
Tissuemiser high-shear mixer ·
Syringe pumps ·
Furnace ·
Vacuum oven and pump ·
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We regularly use the
SEM in the School of Engineering. Our colleagues also kindly let us use
contact angle measurement apparatus, spin coater, and pendant drop apparatus. Questions, Suggestions,
Comments? Send e-mail to velankar@pitt.edu
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Equipment Tension/compression
testing |
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