Portable polymer tester and testing method

A portable testing device for in-situ measuring physical characteristics of a cable or wire comprising polymeric or elastomeric material, said device comprising:

• (a) an indenter probe;
• (b) a drive system for controlling movement of said probe, said drive system comprising a motorized linear slide operatively associated with the probe to advance said probe from a first position to a second position to deform said polymeric or elastomeric material and to facilitate retraction of said probe to a predetermined intermediate position between said first and second positions;
• (c) a force/displacement measurement system including a first sensor for measuring force at the tip of said probe during contact with said polymeric or elastomeric material and a second sensor for measuring displacement of the probe;
• (d) a plate heater configured to directly heat a test location of the polymeric or elastomeric material to a set temperature, wherein the test location is located where the indenter probe indents the polymeric or elastomeric material, wherein the plate heater defines a hole through which the indenter probe is configured to advance between the first and second positions;
• (e) a first temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the polymeric or elastomeric material at the test location;
• (f) a sample retaining assembly including a clamp for immobilizing all or a portion of the material during in-situ measurement, and a clamp control module configured to receive clamp force data from a third sensor indicating the force between the clamp and the polymeric or elastomeric material, and to move the clamp to maintain a set force between the clamp and polymeric or elastomeric material, wherein the clamp comprises a moveable clamping jaw and a stationary clamping member, wherein the clamp is configured to secure the polymeric or elastomeric material between the moveable clamping jaw and the stationary clamping member, the stationary clamping member comprising the hole through which the indenter probe is configured to advance between the first and second positions;
• and
• (g) a controller configured to:
• (i) provide control to the force/displacement measurement system, the drive system, the clamp, and the plate heater;
• (ii) receive data from the first temperature sensor of the temperature of the polymeric or elastomeric material at the test location;
• (iii) receive data from the third sensor indicating the force between the clamp and material;
• and
• (iv) send data to instruct the plate heater to heat the polymeric or elastomeric material at the test location to a desired temperature;
• (v) in response to the data received from the third sensor, send data to instruct the clamp to maintain the set force between the clamp and said polymeric or elastomeric material;
• (vi) send data to instruct the indenter probe to deform the test location of said polymeric or elastomeric material.