4. Thermal analysis

Thermal analysis tools are used for the following main purposes:

• characterization of their physical properties, including determination of the materials' limit of use temperature and characterization of their structure and state of cross-linking (thermosetting CMOs);

• and the study of their thermal degradation.

As CMOs are poor conductors of heat, all tests requiring sample heating, whether physico-chemical or mechanical, should be carried out at a slow rate of 1.5°C/min for a 2 mm thick specimen, to ensure that the temperature gradient in the sample is low (less than 1°C). However, this speed must remain sufficiently rapid to avoid introducing parasitic phenomena (cross-linking, degradation) likely to modify the behavior of the CMO.