9. Equipment

There is a wide range of equipment available in research laboratories, as well as in specialist outlets.

Depending on the temperature range under consideration and the geometric characteristics of the sample, different stress modes are used: three-point bending, single or double embedding, tension, torsion, shear, between parallel plates [ T > T _g + 60 C (T _g glass transition temperature)].

When choosing a piece of equipment, the following main factors must be taken into account:

• high-performance thermal control ;

• range of accessible load frequencies (generally of the order of 10 ^–2 to 10 ^+2...