Challenges in Composites Testing Masterclass

On 2nd December, Instron had the great pleasure of hosting a composites-focused masterclass for customers, based at our European Headquarters in High Wycombe, England.

Focused around a combination of seminars and active workshops, our customers were involved in discussions surrounding a wide variety of composites-based testing challenges, from the importance of specimen alignment, to dynamic testing and advanced measurements, as well as productivity of testing and strain measurement.

We were also pleased to host Nigel O’Dea (Founder and Director of OB2B Industrial Marketing & PR) who brought with him 25 years of industry experience. His involvement and presentation reinforced the importance of the global strategic growth and challenges faced within the composites industry.

At the end of the masterclass, all customers were invited to stay on for a sneak peek around the newly vamped factory floor and had the opportunity to get hands on with a variety of demonstration machines hosted in our Applications Lab.

Overall, the masterclass proved to be an insightful look into the challenges of composites testing, and also an opportunity for great discussion between customers and our dedicated applications specialists. Here’s what one of our customers had to say about the day:

“Very well run event, all the speakers were very approachable. It totally reinforced the message that Instron is a key partner for materials testing and able to share helpful, up-to-date knowledge and insight, not just a test machine supplier.”

We will be running similar events throughout 2015; so, look out for new dates being confirmed on our website.


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Helping to Standardize High-Rate Testing of Composites

Instron has joined a new international group that is seeking to develop a best practice guide and test standards specifically for testing composites at high-strain rates.

As the automotive industry seeks ever-more-urgently to embrace composites, there is an increasing demand for testing composite material behavior at high-strain rates. The need for detailed data to inform crash simulation models first drove a renewed demand for equipment over the last 3 years, and now there is a need for international standardization in methodologies and data handling. The group’s aim is to facilitate generation and exchange of reliable and comparable test data in this highly challenging area.

The working group has been coordinated by the University of Dayton Research Institute, and currently composes about 20 organizations including major automotive manufacturers, composite materials producers, test houses, and research institutes. As a world leader in high-rate servohydraulic testing systems, the dynamic systems team at Instron are very pleased to share their expertise with this initiative that will make a tangible difference to the industry. Similarly, Instron CEAST will be contributing to work on drop-weight based techniques for high rate testing.

The working group is looking for more European contributors especially, but we would strongly encourage all our customers with expertise in this area to join us in supporting the project. Please feel free to contact Instron applications specialist, Dr. Peter Bailey, if you would like to know more.

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A Case for Extensometry

A universal testing system very simply measures 2 things during a basic mechanical test: force (via the load cell) and displacement (via the crosshead encoder). To obtain a basic stress-strain curve, you might think that’s all you need. With the force measurement from the load cell, the cross-sectional area of the material can be used to calculate stress; and with the crosshead extension, the original distance between the grips or fixtures can be used to calculate strain throughout the test. How simple!

It may be simple, but it’s not the best option for all material tests. Even when using the proper equipment for your test – machine, load cell, grips, fixtures, etc. – the system is compliant, i.e., it bends and stretches a little bit when you’re running a test! This means that what the crosshead encoder is reading and sending to the software may not truly represent the distance your specimen has travelled. But don’t panic just yet! This is the fundamental reason why we use extensometry in materials tests. An extensometer measures strain directly at the specimen – only taking into account the strain directly at the material, and not anywhere else in the system (the crosshead, the grips, the load cell, the couplings, etc.).

International testing standards will specify if extensometery is required for your testing – so have a look through the standards you follow and make sure you’re using the proper device for your tests. Aren't following a standard? Here are some recommended cases where you should use extensometry:

• Stiff materials (composites, metals, plastics)
• Quality control environments 
• Comparing different materials
• Comparing the same material on different machines
• When you want truly accurate strain data!

Note that some extensometers work best for certain materials and situations. If you’re not sure which you should use for your test, we’ll be happy to help you figure it out.

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Challenges of Rigorous Demands

The world of materials testing is changing …

• materials are getting stronger, stiffer, and lighter 
• test standards are becoming stricter 
• testing labs are asked to perform more complex analytical tests

With all of these changes affecting the way labs test, it’s important to think about the following questions: How does your lab environment challenge test results? Is your lab equipped to handle the new strength of specimens? Are you testing under load or position control parameters, or do you require the use of strain control?

These questions, when coupled with the changes above, are all factors we have discussed with our customers and are sharing with you.

Challenge #1

The automotive and aerospace industries are growing and demanding that materials become stiffer, stronger, and lighter. This new breed of materials is helping the industry produce lighter and stronger products, but lab operators are finding that the large energy release may damage contacting extensometers. To reduce the cost of maintenance for labs testing these challenging materials, video extensometers are an ideal  solution – they don’t contact the material, and therefore, they are unaffected by the high-energy breaks of materials, such as carbon fiber composites or rebar.

Challenge #2

With the growing demands come newer standards that place stricter requirements on the type of extensometer you are allowed to use. For example, ISO 527-2012 now requires that devices have an accuracy of just 1 micron in order to measure the modulus of the material. 1 micron is exceptionally small (about 100 times smaller than the width of the average human hair) and is exceedingly difficult to measure. Although this accuracy can be attained with some traditional clip-on extensometers, clip-ons have limited travel and typically can’t measure strain through failure for ductile specimens. In addition, they may cause premature failure due to stress risers from knife edge contact.

Until recently, there hasn't been a video device that could meet the new standard requirement due to problems with lighting and air flow that naturally occurs within a lab, which ultimately affects the device’s ability to provide accurate results.

To prevent the lab lighting from making a difference, we have incorporated a patented lighting system into our new video extensometer that floods the specimen with polarized light and use a polarized filter on the lens. This enables the video extensometer to produce consistent results no matter the lighting conditions, including flicker from fluorescent lights or the difference in lighting from a lab window.

Secondly, all video systems are affected by air flows in the room from sources like air ducts and heat sources. These air flows are similar to what you may see on asphalt on a hot day. The air currents and heat sources in your lab are probably much smaller, but since 1 micron is so small even minor perturbations make the measurement impossible. Our engineers incorporated a patented system of fans into the video extensometer to prevent these air flows between the specimen and the camera, enabling the test to yield accurate results whether your air system is off or running at full speed.

Challenge #3

New standards are also placing requirements on the way that tests are being controlled. In the past, most – if not all – tests were run under load or position control parameters, but newer standards may prefer or require the use of strain control. This can be done with contacting extensometers, while pre-existing video extensometers struggle to run strain control tests because the images taken have to be processed by the computer and then sent to the software to adjust the frame movement accordingly. There is a large delay between the images being taken and the processing by the computer, which means that by the time the frame reacts to the strain measurement the value has changed.


To resolve this, the new video extensometer now measures strain at the camera in real time and then sends the data directly to your test frame. This drastically reduces the response time of the camera and allows for clean strain control.

Challenge #4

Extensometers are excellent for materials testing, but only give you a point-to-point measurement. Other measurement techniques, such as digital image correlation, can give you more information about material behavior during a mechanical test, but they typically require expensive and complicated equipment and software. Because of the high barrier to entry, only a few labs take advantage of this technology and are able to make key insights about their material behavior that other labs can’t.

Instron has lowered the barrier to entry for digital image correlation by offering our video extensometers along with dedicated digital image correlation software. The extensometer images are automatically synchronized in time to the data from the load frame, which means that you can now run a test and begin producing full field strain maps in less than one minute. Read more

The World of Automation for Materials Testing

Imagine your ideal day in the lab … Time on your hands to get work done, a safe environment for testing, and consistent test results that ultimately increase throughput. We hear from a lot of our customers – regardless of their application – that they are always looking for ways to improve their testing productivity and operator safety.

Using an automated testing system in your lab brings this new dimension of testing productivity directly to you: maximize efficiency by testing hundreds of specimens all the while the next specimen is being prepared; enable precise and consistent placement of specimens to eliminate errors; and ensure operator safety by alleviating safety gripping hazards.  This assisted process promotes maximum efficiency as skilled operators can focus on other priorities and testing can occur at a continuous and consistent pace.

Watch as the system runs with no operator intervention.

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Additive Manufacturing Contest at the SAMPE Seattle Conference

A 57.15 mm tall and .0193 kg vertical support column withstood 4413.9 pound force at the SAMPE Seattle 2014 Conference, where Instron provided a 5969 Dual Column Testing System for the Student Additive Manufacturing Contest.

The winning column before and after bearing 4413.9 lbf with an Instron 5969 machine

The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) is a professional engineering society providing a community to share information on materials and process technology. At the SAMPE Seattle 2014 Conference June 2-5, professionals met for an international exhibition and conference aimed at education and networking. Apart from the Additive Manufacturing Contest, the Student Bridge Contest was another opportunity which allowed students to created miniature bridge structures with composite materials and compete against one another.

The competing vertical support columns

Instron was at the conference to engage with society members and sponsor the Student Additive Manufacturing Contest. For the contest, high school and college students designed vertical support columns that were then printed with a Stratasys 3D printer in Seattle and tested between platens of an Instron load frame. Joe Vanherweg from California Polytechnic State University came in first place with a column that held 4413.9 lbf. For a prize, he won a Stratasys MakerBot 3D printer.

Congratulations, Joe!

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Composites on the Move

Composites are now a broad and well-established family of materials, but industry press releases frequently discuss “new and exciting” developments and opportunities. It should be remembered that there has been a commercial market in high performance, structural composites for well over 30 years, and European automotive manufacturers have made considerable use of lower performance glass fiber reinforced polyester (GFRP) bodywork since the 1950s.

Thermal image showing heating at failure
of a static tensile test (1mm/min)
of an impacted composite specimen

Furthermore, a high level of interest from the aerospace industry has resulted in a wide range of well-established static test methods giving reliable results. Sadly, there is still only limited consensus, so test houses and machine manufacturers find themselves maintaining an extensive catalog of fixtures in order to meet diverse international and industry standards. From this starting point, it might be argued that there is little news in composites testing, but in fact some exciting trends have started to develop.

Recently published in AM&P magazine, Peter Bailey, PhD - Sr. Applications Specialist - wrote an article on the growth in the dynamic testing market for composites.

We are including it here for you to download. Read more

Wedge Action Grips: Which is Moving?

Wedge action grips are a very popular choice for gripping high-strength materials, such as metals and composites, because the strong clamping force ensures that specimen slippage is eliminated. All wedge grips work by multiplying a relatively small input force into a higher clamping force. In all wedge grips, the opening and closing of the jaw faces are achieved by the relative motion between the grip body and the jaw faces. However, there are two distinct wedge grip designs – “moving jaw face” and “moving grip body”. Their difference lies in which component is kept stationary and which is moving.

For “moving jaw face” wedge grips, the jaw faces move to clamp the specimen while the grip body remains stationary. As the upper jaw faces move down and the lower jaw faces move up to grip the specimen, a compressive preload is introduced into the specimen. This may cause the specimen to be damaged or buckle even before starting a test. Many modern testing machines can alleviate this problem by automatically moving the crosshead to relieve the specimen of the compressive preload. However, when using this feature, it is important to note that how much the crosshead will move is dependent on the specimen stiffness.

On the other hand, for a wedge grip that incorporates the “moving grip body” design, the grip body moves vertically to close the jaw faces. The jaw faces do not move vertically during the opening or closing of the grip. This design feature helps to minimize any axial compressive preload applied to the specimen during clamping*. The other advantage of having the jaw faces remain vertically stationary is that it is possible for a user to preset the exact vertical position and grip separation at which the specimen will be held when clamped. For these reasons, the “moving grip body” design is widely regarded as preferable to the “moving jaw faces” design.

* Even with a “moving grip body” design, there may still be some small preload on the specimen but this would be purely due to the interaction of the jaw face teeth with the specimen and is much smaller than the compressive preload caused by a wedge grip with a “moving jaw faces” design.

 

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Thermoset and Thermoplastic Composites ... What’s the Difference?

As composites continue to be adopted in more industries, fiber-reinforced plastics can be found in products that people interact with every day, including cars and sporting goods. Fiber-reinforced plastics consist of reinforcing fibers surrounded by a plastic matrix. There are several types of fibers that can be used including glass, carbon fiber, and aramid which give the material its high tensile strength. The matrix gives the composite the compressive strength and, in the case of fiber reinforced plastics, can be made using thermoset or thermoplastic polymers.

Thermoset polymers are polymers that are cured into a solid form and cannot be returned to their original uncured form. Composites made with thermoset matrices are strong and have very good fatigue strength. They are extremely brittle and have low impact-toughness making. They are commonly used for high-heat applications because the thermoset matrix doesn’t melt like thermoplastics. Thermoset composites are generally cheaper and easier to produce because the liquid resin is very easy to work with. Thermoset composites are very difficult to recycle because the thermoset cannot be remolded or reshaped; only the reinforcing fiber used can be reclaimed.

Thermoplastic polymers are polymers that can be molded, melted, and remolded without altering its physical properties. Thermoplastic matrix composites are tougher and less brittle than thermosets, with very good impact resistance and damage tolerance. Since the matrix can be melted the composite materials are easier to repair and can be remolded and recycled easily. Thermoplastic composites are less dense than thermosets making them a viable alternative for weight critical applications. The thermoplastic composites manufacturing process is more energy intensive due to the high temperatures and pressures needed to melt the plastic and impregnate fibers with the matrix. The energy required makes thermoplastic composites more costly than thermosets.

These two similar materials have such different properties that both will continue to be used in different applications for very different reasons and the products of the future will likely be a combination of both.

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4-Point Bend Testing of Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber is an extremely strong material. Depending on the manufacturing process, this textile can have typical modulus values of about 138 Gpa and ultimate tensile strengths of about 3.5 Gpa. Industry professionals can find themselves seeking to replace traditional steel components with lighter carbon fiber counterparts to achieve a much higher stiffness to weight ratio. To determine the appropriate thickness for the corresponding carbon component, one must undergo some experimental validation.

 In a recent test, an ElectroPuls E3000 was fitted with a 5kN Dynacell™ load cell and a 4-point bend fixture. Once aligned, the upper and lower spans of the 4-point bend fixture were set to 30mm and 100mm respectively. For this sample, a cyclic load-controlled test was conducted with a mean load of 110N of compression and an R value of 0.1 (equivalent to a 90N amplitude). The cyclic loading was carried out at 10Hz for 2 million cycles, which was expected to last around 55 hours. The maximum deflection of the carbon fiber specimen was collected for every 1000 cycles with WaveMatrix™ software.

All ElectroPuls systems are fitted with an optical encoder for precise extension control. This allows for accurate displacement measurement readings of the carbon fiber specimen of up to one micron of a millimeter over the course of the entire 2 million cycles. The resultant displacement of the carbon fiber specimen is acquired by the 8800 controller at a rate of up to 5kHz. WaveMatrix™ software conveniently allows users to specify exactly which data is saved and at what frequency. For this test, a higher data acquisition rate was used during the first few hundred cycles. Thereafter, every 1000 cycles was recorded and exported in the form of an easy to read Microsoft Excel file. From this, researchers can then determine the overall changes in displacement of the carbon fiber over the entire 2 million cycles, and whether or not the material properties of the specimen suit a particular application. Read more

Software Module Increases Test Frequency for Fatigue Testing of Composites and Polymers

Senior Applications Specialist for Dynamic Systems, Peter Bailey shares with AZoM how the Specimen Self-Heating Control (SSHC) module to WaveMatrix™ Materials Testing Software can enhance fatigue testing of composites and polymers.

SSHC optimizes test frequency by maintaining consistent specimen temperature and reducing energy with shorter test durations, promoting increased throughput and consistency.

Visit AZoM to view the full article.

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Instron Year in Review

We've created a Year in Review to highlight exciting moments of 2013. We want to keep you up to date on all aspects of Instron® – from our community relations to our acquisitions to available webinars, and new products. There was never a dull moment or a period of time when we weren’t aiming to meet the expectations and needs of our customers. Every experience you have with Instron is invaluable to us as a company. Specifically within TechNotes, I work with our application engineers and product managers to bring you the most relevant and industry-specific news that will assist with your testing applications. Instron professionals are some of the best in the industry and hold seats on many of the ASTM and ISO committees. It’s my goal to share with you their knowledge and experience in order to better support your testing applications. So keep the feedback and questions coming! I welcome any chance I have to speak with you on ways to better communicate just exactly what you’d like to hear. Thank you for your continued support as we move forward into 2014 and I look forward to future communications with you! Best regards, Denise Czerpak TechNotes Editor

Download Now: A Year in Review

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What is Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and How Can It Help Me?

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is an analytical technique that compares images of a specimen’s surface during testing to generate full-field strain maps. This technology gives you more information than a traditional point-to-point extensometer or a strain gauge and allows you to see the complete story of the material’s behavior beyond the stress strain curve.

Scientists and engineers have found dozens of useful applications for DIC including detecting cracks invisible to the naked eye, visualizing localized necking and discontinuous yielding, comparing differences in material behavior between two separate formulations, and analyzing strain on parts or components where a traditional extensometer is not feasible.

In our lab, we recently performed a test to ASTM standard D5766 for the open-hole tensile strength of polymer matrix composites and used DIC to see exactly where the strain was occurring. Using DIC, we were able to visualize where the strain on the specimen was concentrated and how it propagated through the material.

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Carbon Fiber Hits The Road

The Drive for Lightweight Cars

By 2016, the US car industry will need to average 34.5 mpg and by 2025, cars will need to average 54.5 mpg. In order to meet these new requirements, manufacturers will have to implement a number of changes including new engines, technologies, and materials. Lightweight materials are one of the most important avenues to pursue because for every 10% reduction in weight, fuel efficiency is increased by 6–7%.

The Benefits of Composites

Carbon fiber composites are as strong as steel, while weighing over 75% less. The materials are the lightest to use and also the stiffest. Because of their superior mechanical characteristics, cars built using carbon fibers are some of the lightest, fastest, and most fuel efficient vehicles on the road. Composites can also absorb a large amount of energy before failure, which can make new lighter vehicles just as safe as their heavier counterparts. The only drawback is that composite materials are three times more expensive to make, meaning adoption will be slow until the price comes down. Despite the high cost, composites have been used in cars for over 30 years and are now being used for the first mass produced composite vehicles.

 

Composites in Use

Carbon fiber was first used in high performance vehicles such as the McLaren MP4/1, the first Formula One car to feature a carbon fiber chassis. The low weight and increased strength helped make the car one of the lightest, stiffest, and fastest to grace the track in 1981. The use of composites also allowed the engineers to design a safety cell for the driver, which would remain intact in the event of a crash, making previously fatal crashes survivable.
 

Over the ten years from 1981 to 1991, carbon fiber was used only on racecars because they were the only customers willing to pay the high cost for increased performance. The first carbon fiber vehicle to be sold to the public was the McLaren F1 in 1992. The million dollar sports car was built to be used on public roads but was truly at home on the track, hitting top speeds of over 200 mph and boasting a 0–60 time of just 3.2 seconds. Even with these impressive numbers, the car only weighed about 2,500 pounds (significantly less than most consumer vehicles) because of the low weight of carbon fiber.

Now carbon fiber can be found in many consumer vehicles from high-end manufacturers, but these vehicles are either low volume (such as the 400 unit Bugatti Veyron) or only use a small amount of carbon fiber.

Next year will mark a new milestone in automotive carbon fiber as BMW will begin selling the i3, the first mass produced car with a carbon fiber chassis. While previous cars used carbon fiber to save weight and go faster, the new BMW i3 will use carbon fiber to save weight and go farther. The all-electric car will tip the scales at 2,700 pounds—including the large battery needed to give it a range of 80–100 miles.

These new cars may be the first of their kind, but they won’t be the last.

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Equipment Considerations for a Well-aligned Test

When testing stiff or brittle materials, such as composites, alignment is crucial—even instances of slight misalignment can throw off test results.

Misalignment in test frames takes two forms: concentricity misalignment, where the centerline of the upper grip/fixture is offset from the centerline of the lower grip/fixture, and angularity misalignment, where the two centerlines are at contrasting angles. Both forms cause extra stress on the specimen and can affect mechanical properties such as modulus, maximum elongation, and tensile strength.

The alignment of a system is so critical to test results that organizations, such as Nadcap, strictly regulate misalignment. To meet these requirements and reach the most accurate results, the test operator needs to carefully assess his or her station, including the testing frame itself to the alignment cells used to verify alignment.

In addition to being accurately aligned, the frame should also be stiff so that it deflects very little at the load.

Next, it’s necessary to align the frame with the grips that will actually be used. This means that if an alignment is performed with one set of grips, but then replaced with a second set of grips, both sets of grips must be realigned. (To prevent removing grips, it is helpful to choose grips that can accommodate multiple tests including compression.)

Rigid and symmetrical grips produce the best alignment results. Under load, symmetrical grips will deform symmetrically from front-to-back/from side-to-side; therefore, the grips will not bend the specimen. Plus, the more rigid a grip is the less it will deform under load.

Once the frame and grips are aligned, now the specimen needs to be aligned. The operator oversees this process. To minimize user error, grips with specimen stops indicate where to place the specimen every time. If the specimen is loaded in different positions, even in a perfectly aligned system, large variation will occur.

To ensure that platens are parallel to the degree that Nadcap requires, one rigid platen and one locking, spherically-seated platen are required. These types of platen can be compressed against each other to ensure that they are parallel and can then be locked to prevent them from being misaligned.

Alignment cells are an essential part of any alignment. These cells, when used in conjunction with software, provide valuable information on how to correct a system’s misalignment. The dimensions of the cell should be as close as possible to the specimens being tested. On occasion, standard or stock alignment cells do not fit with the samples being tested. In these instances, the design of a custom strain-gaged alignment cell may be necessary. Since fabricating a strain-gaged alignment transducer can be a time-consuming process, plan this step well in advance.

Any given system has small misalignment errors due to tolerances of the frame and the parts used. To adjust for these small errors, it is helpful to have a fixture which can be used to make small adjustments to the concentricity and angularity of the load string. This is especially handy for future alignments and will save you time and effort down the road.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions. Read more

Instron at Alabama Composites Conference, Birmingham

Instron was at the Alabama Composites Conference (ACC) from June 19—20 in Birmingham, Alabama. Southeast Applications Engineer Jim Gleason and Kent Wallace, Dynamic Systems, were on site. ACC is held every two years at the University of Birmingham, Alabama (UAB) and focuses on latest innovations in the composites industry. Instron is proud to support such an event because it sees participation from a wide range of industry partners working with composite materials.

We exhibited an ElectroPuls E1000 and had a few Instron personnel at ACC to give information about our other product lines like electromechanical systems, CEAST impact machines, hydraulic systems, etc.

Check this out for an array of topics covered during different sessions of this conference. I found the ENERGY, GREEN, and BIOCOMPOSITES section very interesting in terms of using natural fibers as reinforcements to the matrix.

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Instron at the World's Largest Wind Turbine Testing Facility

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt helped to usher in a new era for Siemens Wind Power with the world’s largest testing facility for wind turbines, featuring Instron systems.

With locations in Aalborg and Brande, the new Siemens testing center is a global leader due to its footprint comprising over 27,000 square meters and its advanced testing abilities.  The facility is part of a one billion krone investment in Denmark’s wind turbine industry.

Watch the inauguration, including footage of Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt learning about a 5900 Series system (hosted by TV MidtVest). Read more

The Evolution of Composites Testing

In insights from industry, Ian McEnteggart, Composites Manager, talks to AZoM about key processes in today’s composites testing world and how they are transforming the application for composites. Ian shares the value of unique testing methods, specialized instrumentation, and meeting national standards.

Instron equipment is widely used for testing composites, able to perform over 100 different test types on composite materials.

Ian has been contributing to Instron for over thirty years and specializes in this growing market. He holds a degree in physics from the University of Birmingham and a diploma in systems engineering. His background boasts of designing materials testing systems, developing international standards, and being published worldwide.

Read on to learn more.

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Why Automatic Extensometry?

When testing the mechanical properties of a specimen, being able to accurately and repeatedly measure the strain the specimen sees is crucial. Many testing standards require that a separate device, commonly known as an Extensometer, be used to ensure the most accurate strain data possible.

So before you run a test, attach a device onto the specimen to measure the strain… that doesn't sound bad, now does it? Now think about having to test hundreds of specimens. Odds are, manually attaching an extensometer to every specimen will add significant time to your testing process. This is where an automatic extensometer should be used.

Automatic extensometers allow the user to simply place their specimen into the grips that are being used during the test and hit “start”. You don’t have to worry about attaching the extensometer and removing it once the test is done; it’s done for you! Automatic extensometers can save time, increase repeatability, and reduce operator influence on results.  If you are interested in automatic extensometry, check out the AutoX 750. 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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