Wood Coating Research Group maintains a state of the art rheology laboratory. Rheology is the science of deformation and flow. It involves the study of the flow behavior of liquid type materials as well as the deformation behavior of solid materials. In rheological terms, all materials can be described rheologically as exhibiting behavior between two extremes, that of an ideal liquid and that of an ideal solid. If the material behaves as an ideal liquid, then it is thought of as viscous (example – silicone oil). If the material behaves as an ideal solid, then it is thought of as elastic (example – steel ball). Most materials can be thought of as existing somewhere on a continuum between these two extreme ideals and are thusly termed viscoelastic. Liquid and solid materials can be evaluated for position on this continuum using rheological methodologies.

Analytical rheology offers a sensitive methodology for quantitative evaluation of many rheological aspects of coatings and materials. Such aspects include:
Determination of storage and loss moduli of liquid and solid coatings and materials under various temperature and stress profiles dynamic mechanical analysis; evaluation of coating or adhesive pot life, including investigation of the impact of temperature, catalyst and/or cross linker type and concentration, solvent and/or inhibitor type and concentration, surfactants, additives, and polymer backbone chemistry; quantitative analysis of coating sagging; slumping and leveling; viscosity versus temperature and shear stress; tensile and flexibility testing; and many other testing methodologies.