Puncture Test on Pharmaceutical Bottle Seal

The Food and Drug Administration requires that many consumer goods, such as over-the-counter pharmaceutical bottles, be covered by an air-tight seal. This seal prevents harmful liquids, gasses, bacteria, and sometimes light from damaging the contents of the bottle. These seals need to be protective, but still easy for the consumer to open.

Although there have been many advancements to theses seals over the years, some are just down-right difficult to break open. Many times, without the help of a sharp object, users resort to poking the seal with a thumb or index finger - which, if you've tried it, can be rather difficult. Just how difficult is it to poke through these seals?

We put a few bottle seals to the test in our Applications Lab - watch this video! Read more

Impact on a Cosmic Scale

Instron makes enough impact machines that go bang not to be blown away by any old catapult, spud gun or ‘accelerator’. But there are some truly awe-inspiring projects out there that occasionally catches my interest, and I’d just like to show you a choice selection.

First off, VERA (Variable Energy Research Accelerator) is an advanced 'spud gun' that can deliver energies of up to 2.25 megajoules. That’s enough energy to fire a fully laden London bus over a five storey building! VERA functions using a combination of compressed air and combustion, which it contains using enormous tanks. 

Moving on, the Shock Compression Lab at Harvard University simulates impacts between celestial bodies. That’s right, they’re mocking up collisions between planets, moons and other space debris. The gas gun fires projectiles at 6000 miles per hour, and the resultant shock waves are studied in order to better understand cosmic scale collisions and their after-effects.

Moving onto our final offering for today, Punkin Chunkin is an annual effort for technically minded types to outdo one another – in the field of Pumpkin throwing! Machines are pitted against each-other by enthusiasts from all over the world and come in a number of varieties – a quick Google image search will give you a rough idea of the wealth of designs that come through. The competition is well into its 26^th year, and in that time the 'Chunkin' machines have grown increasingly capable – the record has steadily risen from a meagre 126 feet to over 4,400 feet in recent years! 

Our range of impact testing operates in a much more controlled manner, and can be used to analyse the process of impact and failure using strain gauges and high-speed data acquisition systems. Models are available for Quality Control and Research purposes and range all the way up to 1800 Joules. Check out more information on our drop towers our pendulums. Before embarking on an impact project, please make sure that proper safety precautions are in place. 

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Bandwidth & Data Rate: Whitepaper

We have discussed bandwidth and data rate a few times on the blog, but we find that it's an important topic to cover...

The US National Security Agency (NSA) collects surveillance data from satellites and by other means. The NSA supercomputers sort through billions of phone calls, faxes, emails, and radio transmissions; it has been estimated that five million emails are transmitted each minute and 35 million voice communications are completed each hour. Unfortunately, it takes some intelligence to cut through all the “chatter” – otherwise, you have inaccurate information and the results could be disastrous.

A similar situation exists in the data acquisition world. By definition, data acquisition systems are designed to gather and store data. However, this definition has led many managers and engineers to spend large amounts of money on systems that do just that - gather data - but are good for little else ...

Frank Lio, Support Manager for our Electromechanical Business, wrote a whitepaper on Bandwidth and Data Rate, and we have it here for you to download.

Topics included:
- The True Purpose of Data Acquisition
- Measurement Noise and Filters
- Bandwidth and Data Rate
- Bandwidth Effects on Accuracy, Repeatability and Reproducibility

What other topics would you find useful if covered in a whitepaper? Read more

Blogging from Birmingham

This week has seen Instron in attendance at ‘The Composites Engineering Show’. Held annually at the NEC in Birmingham (UK), it’s a great opportunity to showcase the combined talents of the Composites industry. This year exhibitors presented a range of technologies from rapid prototyping to CADCAM and robotic systems. Also in attendance were cars from the Red Bull racing and Honda Yuasa teams.

The star performer at our stand was the ElectroPuls™, which spent much of its time fatigue testing a rubber aeroplane from the Westmoreland stand! Supporting the ElectroPuls were the 9310 drop tower and the 5969 static testing frame. Respectively, these machines represent our Cyclic/Fatigue, Impact and Tensile/Compressive testing capabilities.

During the course of the event, we were approached about testing anything from car doors to concrete. To my mind, this perfectly demonstrates the breadth and diversity of the materials testing industry, and I think it’s a credit to the versatility of our machines that we talk about such a wide range of applications positively and with experience. If you have a testing requirement that needs filling, why not leave us a comment below and we’ll contact you?

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Advantages of a Twin-Bore Capillary Rheometer

Capillary rheometers allow users to better understand the processability of a thermoplastic prior to extruding or injection molding. This improves yields and reduces recycling/regrinding.  Also, the rheometer enables users to perform process optimization to improve productivity by better understanding a thermoplastic’s rheological behavior under specific test conditions.

These rheometers are available in single- and twin-bore configurations. The twin-bore systems offer some important advantages:

• First, the ability to perform two simultaneous and independent rheological tests at once increases testing throughput, which is invaluable in quality control testing.
• Second, it allows for the direct comparison of the behavior of two lots of the same material, or two different materials, which is of benefit to both the quality control tester and the researcher.

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Q. What is GR&R?

A. Gauge Repeatability and Reproducibility (GR&R) is the determination of the accuracy of a measurement by ascertaining its repeatability - the consistency of measurements taken by the same operator - and reproducibility - the consistency of measurements taken by different operators.

There are five major elements of a measurement system that contribute to errors in a measurement process: the standard, the part being measured, the instrument, the operator, and the environment. All of these elements affect the measurement reading obtained. Overall measurement errors are minimized if the errors contributed by each of these elements are minimized.

There are various ways by which the GR&R of a measuring system may be assessed. A common method is to first measure variations due to the measuring equipment. Variations are calculated from measurement data obtained by the same operator taking measurements using the same equipment under the same conditions. Subsequently variations are calculated from different operators taking measurements using the same equipment under the same conditions. Variations may also be calculated from measurement data obtained from several different parts. An overall GR&R value, called the %R&R, is calculated from these combined variations.

The measuring system is considered satisfactory if the %R&R is less than 10%. A %R&R between 10% and 30% may also be acceptable, depending on what it would take to improve the system variability. A %R&R of more than 30%, however, should prompt an investigation into how the R&R of the measuring system could be further improved. Read more

Biomimetics - Material Structure in Nature

The natural world is full of inspiration for the materials scientist. Many researchers are working in the field of biomimetics trying to develop synthetic materials that equal or even outperform materials found in nature. Many of these synthetic materials, while attaining similar specifications to the natural material, sadly fall short in performance comparisons. However, scientists are discovering that nature’s high performance is not due just to the basic material properties, but to the structure and form of the materials. Two cases in points are the scales of the Arapaima fish and the exoskeletal cuticle of insects.

Arapaima

The Brazilian Arapaima is a huge fish weighing up to 300 lb. It lives in lakes alongside the better-known Piranha. So how come it doesn’t become Piranha food?

This was the question that intrigued researchers at the Jacob’s School of Engineering at UC San Diego. They found that, as much as the Piranha would have enjoyed snacking on the Arapaima, their needle-sharp teeth were unable to penetrate the scales of this massive fish.

Investigation of the fish's scales structure showed that they are composed of an outer layer of a hard, mineralized biomaterial with an inner layer of softer collagen fibers. In other words, the fish is “case hardened”, offering a hard outer surface with a flexible inner core. The researchers carried out hardness testing on the scales using an indenter that held an actual piranha tooth at its tip. The tooth was able to penetrate partway through the scale, but it fractured before it would have damaged the underlying muscle of the fish. Further, the outer layer of the scales is corrugated giving the hard scale the ability to bend with the movement of the swimming fish.

Insect Cuticle
Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have been investigating the properties and the structure of insect cuticle.

Insect cuticle is a composite material comprising layers of chitin (a polysaccharide polymer) and fibroin (a protein). These materials are arranged in layers, similar to plywood. Mechanical and chemical interactions between these layers and the different materials give the cuticle unique mechanical and chemical properties. The researchers have developed a thin, clear film from similar materials and with a similar layered structure as insect cuticle. The material is composed of fibroin protein from silk and from chitin extracted from discarded shrimp shells. It is thin, clear, and flexible, and the researchers claim it is as strong as aluminum at half the weight. They have called the new material Shrilk.

One of the biggest advantages of this new low-cost synthetic material is its biodegradability. Shrilk could one day replace plastic for degradable consumer products, such as trash bags, packaging, and diapers, and be used safely in a variety of medical applications, such as sutures or scaffold for tissue regeneration.

Nature has always been an inspiration for materials scientists. Early man used natural materials, such as wood, bone, sinew, and leather to manufacture tools, clothing, and structures. Synthetic materials have improved on the properties of many of these basic materials, but for some of them the limits of their performance have been reached. Research into how nature constructs natural materials, as well as into their basic chemistry, offers the promise of attaining even higher performing synthetic materials in the future.

Images:

Arapaima image courtesy of George Chernilevsky in the public domain.

Grasshopper image courtesy of Gilles San Martin under a creative commons license.

Sources:

Piranha Vs. Arapaima: Engineers Find Inspiration for New Materials in Piranha-Proof Armor. Science Daily, Feb 8, 2012

Arapaima fish scales inspire new materials. robaid.com, Feb 9, 2012

Inspired by Insect Cuticle, Wyss Researchers Develop Low-Cost Material with Exceptional Strength and Toughness. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, December 12, 2011

As Strong As An Insect’s Shell. Harvard Gazette, Alvin Powell, February 2, 2012

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Say it With a Video

Videos have a way of making testing tips tangible .... They bring to life the mundane step-by-step bullets on how to install grips properly or how to run a test. I'm not saying that bulleted lists or whitepapers are not a necessity when it comes to materials testing and learning; I'm simply pointing out that if you can "say" it with a video, then you should!

We have a dedicated YouTube page that hosts more than 65 Instron videos on biomaterials/biomedical, composites, metals, and plastics, as well as software and holiday-themed testing.

As we add to our video library throughout the year, I'd appreciate your feedback on what you'd like to see covered in a video or webinar. Read more