Univariate and Multivariate Gauge Repeatability and Reproducibility Analysis on the High Frequency Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) Measurement System

The quality of the collected data from a measurement system affects eventual decision making process. Therefore, the reliability of any measurement system is an important factor to be studied. Gauge repeatability and reproducibility (Gauge R&R) is the standard method to evaluate the measurement system and assess the adequacy of variation in the measurement data. Gauge R&R is a statistical tool which evaluates two main characteristics of the measurement system: repeatability and reproducibility. The Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is a common measurement system for studying the dynamic mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials such as polymers. The newly developed High Frequency Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (HFDMA) is able to directly run the simple shear test at high frequencies without changing the specimen temperature. The complex shear modulus and damping factor of the viscoelastic materials are reported by the HFDMA system. In this study the uni-variable Gauge R&R study based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is done on each measured characteristic of the HFDMA measurement system. The source of variations for each characteristic is distinguished. Then the multivariate Gauge R&R based on the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) is done and the percentage of multivariate Gauge R&R for the measurement with the multiple variables is reported. The results indicate that the HFDMA measurements are both repeatable and reproducible. Thus, the new HFDMA can be used as a measurement system to measure the mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials at high frequencies.