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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Plastics Testing Challenge 2: Thin Films

Challenge 2: Thin Films
One of the most common plastics test is tensile testing of thin films. Two common challenges are often encountered including instances when specimens fail at the grip and uneven stress distributions.

Both issues are strongly influenced by the grip type, type of jaw face, and specimen alignment. When the appropriate configuration is not utilized, repeatability and reproducibility of results will deteriorate and vary.

Solution: To minimize or eliminate specimen failures at the gripping point, it is important to accurately position the specimens vertically in the tensile grips. Our new pneumatic side acting grips have an optional alignment device, ensuring that each specimen is installed in a precise vertical position, and oriented along the centerline of the load string.

Tip: Specimen preparation is an extremely important factor to consider when evaluating the repeatability of results. Specimens with nicks, cuts, and non-parallel edges will impact repeatability.

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