04.01.2023 by Aileen Sammler

Who Has the Oldest DMA Still in Use? 

As part of our 60th anniversary, we looked into the history of our dynamic-mechanical analyzers (DMA) in October, and asked: Who has the oldest instrument still in use?  

The German automotive supplier, Continental, has won the race. Congratulations! The premium tire manufacturer still uses a DMA GABO Eplexor® from 1994 to put its compounds through their paces.

At Continental, currently more than ten NETZSCH GABO systems are in use for compound development and testing. Most of the testing equipment runs around the clock. The DMA GABO Eplexor® from 1994 is the old-timer among them. The testing system was modernized in 2003 and still reliably measures the compression and tensile properties of the complex rubber compounds at the Hanover site. These measurements can be used, for example, to investigate the wet skid behavior, Rolling ResistanceThe rolling resistance is a force resisting the motion when a body is rolling across a surface. This determines the slip resistance of, e.g., car or truck tires.rolling resistance, or the driving and braking stability of a wide variety of rubber compounds at different ambient temperatures. Safety first!

 

Photo: The GABO Eplexor®, built in 1994, was modernized in 2003 and carries out almost daily measurements.

 

Many thanks to Continental for their contribution and taking part in our raffle!

The raffle comes to its end closely - it's all about our NETZSCH software until January, 10th. Find out more here: 60 Years of NETZSCH - NETZSCH Analyzing & Testing