New "Composites" Web Pages...

We (Instron) just released a series of new web pages for Composites...

It is always a challenge to put the most relevant information on a web site so that visitors find what they want quickly and easily. For us at Instron - we provide hardware and services for testing everything from potato chips to space shuttle tiles - "segmentation" or relevancy to web site visitors has always been a lively topic. Nonetheless, we have created a new series of web pages dedicated to people interested in Composites, which we hope you will find interesting. (PS these pages also complement other market-focused pages for plastics, metals, bio, and many others!). ALWAYS let us know what needs to be added, changed, deleted, or expanded upon - your feedback is critical to evolving the content in the right direction! Thank you! Read more

Plastics Testing in Brazil

Interested to see how Dow Chemical uses Instron and CEAST equipment at one of their major plastics production facilities in Brazil? Watch this interesting video! Read more

Worldsteel Releases Short Range Outlook for 2011and 2012

The forecast for global apparent steel use is showing a 5.9% increase in 2011 following a 13.2% growth in 2010. In 2012, demand is expected to grow an additional 6%. Indications predict ...

That by 2012 steel use in developed countries will be 14% below 2007 levels, while in emerging and developing countries it will be 38% above the 2007 levels. The graph represents regional projections. It should be noted that Japan was expected to decline by 1.2% in 2011 prior to the earthquake and tsunami. However, it is too early to fully grasp the implications of these events.

Read the full article on Worldsteel.org. And share your thoughts with us!

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Contact Lenses, Sutures, and More

There are millions of people globally who benefit from medical procedures and medical devices … from being fitted for catheters, to mended with sutures, to seeing through contact lenses. These components are constantly optimized by engineers and scientists thanks to the application of multiple tests, the most common and crucial being a tensile test. But what about testing them in vitro?

Providing the appropriate in vitro conditions for these materials offers them a similar environment to where they will be used – inside the human body. Using a temperature-controlled bath to simulate the human body is ideal when tensile testing fragile biological tissues, thin films, fine wires, bio-engineered tissues, and hydrogels. Watch to see how the unique pneumatic lifting mechanism of the bath provides easy access to the grips to insert the biomedical specimens.

And leave us a comment if you’d like to hear more information on the Microscope Camera (with a power magnification of 400X) that can record the details of the test for future reanalysis like characteristics of material failure.

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Steel Producers Talk Safety

Safety was the major topic at a recent Town Hall Meeting during AISTech 2011 (Association for Iron and Steel Technology Exhibition). With a panel of high-ranking managers from U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal, Nucor Steel, and Steel Dynamics, each agreed that safety is critical at their companies and that lost time goals must be zero. In fact, safety is incorporated into their corporate mission statements.

Is safety a priority at your company? Read the Worldwide Safety and Health Principles Guideline Book. Read more

The Biggest Pain

Where is the biggest pain associated with testing composites? Priority 1 for a product marketing professional is to create solutions that solve the biggest problems - in my case "testing composite materials". Where is yours?

Creating value in a customer's mind is all about solving his/her biggest issue or problem. In testing composites there are many. After many visits to customers around the world, we have created a chart that lists the pain points associated with static tensile tests. Let me know if you'd like a copy of this chart.

Did we catch them all? Did we miss anything? Which one is your biggest issue? Help us work on the right things by identifying your biggest "issue" and letting me know. Your input will be greatly appreciated for prioritizing the many products and services currently in the queue for our R&D team! Thank you! Read more

Measuring Strain on Composite Materials

So - what is the best way to measure strain on a composite material?! Clip-on extensometer? Strain gage?? Optical extensometry??

There are some pretty strong forces that dictate the choice of extensometry for tensile tests on composites: standards (many call for strain gages), history (your company data files and history), new technology (non-contacting, video, optical), and PAIN - just how painful is your current process and what is the payback associated with changing to something new.

One of the main challenges of marketing testing technology into the Composites world is balancing all these competing forces - especially when something new comes along, like the Instron AVE: Advanced Video Extensometer. On paper, the AVE has an accuracy of about 2.5 microns, theoretically insufficient for measuring the modulus of stiff composite materials. BUT, is it "good enough"?

We have done a lot of testing with carbon-fiber reinforced laminate (and tow) materials and found that the AVE provides very promising modulus results, that are consistent with historical data. The good news is that the AVE could potentially eliminate the need to apply strain gages to many QC samples - saving time, money, and hassle. We are currently investigating the possibility of using the AVE for fiber-reinforced materials and things look good so far. The challenge remains for dealing with existing standards, procedures, and customer expectations - but we are committed to the cause and will see how this effort pans out! If you (the reader) are testing composites and are interested in alternative methods for measuring strain, please be sure to contact us. The best way to determine if the AVE is suitable for your composite materials and applications is to run tests in our Applications Laboratory.

I will be sure to post links to applications reports that compare the output of tensile tests that were run on laminates with strain gage, clip-on, and AVE all at the same time - as soon as we clean it up for public consumption!

Comments and feedback welcome! Read more