Sequential automated time-temperature algorithm for dynamic mechanical analysis

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is a widely used experimental technique to provide information about frequency and temperature-dependent mechanical response of polymer materials. Classically, it is used to produce master curves assuming the Time Temperature Superposition principle relating measures to a reference temperature behavior; it leads to the determination of both vertical and horizontal shift factors which respectively affect stiffness and reduced frequency. In this paper, we propose a robust automated generic algorithm that evaluates sequentially the vertical and horizontal shift factors avoiding over-fitting and polynomial instabilities. The derivation of this algorithm is detailed. Then its validation and comparison with other methods are presented considering synthetic data; the influence of noise is investigated. The method is finally applied and compared to other methods on real experimental data.