Monitoring device for a viscoelastic material

1. A device for monitoring aging of a viscoelastic material, comprising:

a sample-carrier having a chamber for receiving a sample of said viscoelastic material, wherein the sample-carrier is shaped and dimensioned so as to be placed in a vicinity of a mass of material of the same kind as said sample which is placed in said chamber, said chamber is provided with one or more windows for putting said sample into contact with the same environment as the mass of material;

a vibration source in the form of a piezoelectric actuator, coupled to a wall of said chamber;

a vibration sensor configured to measure compression or traction/compression coupled to another wall of said chamber, the vibration sensor being configured to be connectable to a calculation device for determining at least one parameter representative of an aging state of the sample from a signal communicated by said vibration sensor; and

load-applying means for applying initial mechanical loading in order to press the two above-mentioned walls of said chamber against the sample.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the load-applying means is configured to apply the initial mechanical loading of less than 10 N.

3. The device according to claim 2 , wherein the load-applying means is configured to apply the initial mechanical loading of less than or equal to 5 N.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein said vibration source emits a sinusoidal vibration at an adjustable frequency.

5. The device according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one parameter is a loss factor of said viscoelastic material of said sample.

6. The device according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one parameter is a dynamic modulus of said viscoelastic material of said sample.

7. The device according to claim 1 , wherein said sample chamber is defined by the two above-mentioned walls arranged parallel to each other, and the portion of the chamber extending between said two walls includes said one or more windows.

8. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising said sample of said viscoelastic material in said chamber, wherein said viscoelastic material is a solid propellant.

9. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising the calculation device connected to the vibration sensor for receiving the signal from the vibration sensor and determining the at least one parameter from the signal.

10. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising said sample of said viscoelastic material in said chamber, wherein said viscoelastic material is a solid material.

11. An assembly, comprising:

a mass of solid viscoelastic material; and

a monitoring device placed in a vicinity of the mass, the monitoring device comprising:

a sample-carrier having a chamber containing a sample of the solid viscoelastic material, wherein the sample-carrier is shaped and dimensioned so as to be placed in a vicinity of a mass of material of the same kind as the sample in the chamber, and the chamber includes one or more windows configured for placing the sample into contact with the same environment as the mass of material,

a vibration source in the form of a piezoelectric actuator coupled to a first wall of the chamber,

a vibration sensor configured to measure compression or traction/compression coupled to a second wall of the chamber,

a calculation device connected to the vibration sensor to transform a signal from the vibration sensor to at least one parameter representative of an aging state of the sample, and

load-applying means configured to apply an initial mechanical load to press the first wall and the second wall against the sample.

12. The assembly according to claim 11 , wherein the viscoelastic material is a solid propellant.

13. A process of monitoring aging of a mass of viscoelastic material, comprising the steps of:

providing a mass of a viscoelastic material to be monitored;

placing a sample of the viscoelastic material in a chamber of a sample-carrier disposed in a vicinity of the mass, the chamber being configured so that the sample is put into contact with the same environment as the mass;

applying an initial mechanical loading to the sample by pressing two opposite walls of the chamber against the sample;

loading the sample by actuating a piezoelectric actuator coupled to a first wall of the chamber, thereby vibrating the first wall of the chamber;

measuring a response with a vibration sensor measure compression or traction/compression coupled to a second wall of the chamber; and

extracting from the signal delivered by the vibration sensor at least one parameter representative of an aging state of the sample.

14. The process as in claim 13 , comprising periodically subjecting the sample to cycles of loading and measurement.

15. The process as in claim 13 , wherein the initial applied loading is less than 10 N.

16. The process as in claim 13 , wherein the initial applied loading is less than or equal to 5 N.