Materials Testing & Analysis Services

Mechanical testing including hardness, tensile, compression and impact testing are useful in confirming for example whether a component conforms to specification or in evaluating the effects of operational and environmental conditions.

Tensile / Compression Testing

Tensile and compression testing is a widely used technique in materials analysis.

A materials testing machine is used to carry out tensile and compression tests on materials and components. Such machines are used to examine the mechanical properties of the material sample. A force is applied to the sample piece and the key measurements of deformation, stress-strain curves and maximum loads can be determined from a graph produced as the tests are carried out.

A tensile test is carried out with the ends of the sample clamped into a set of jaws with an applied load on the sample. The end of the test occurs when the sample piece is finally broken into two and complete fracture/failure occurs. The test piece generally used in such tests consists of a straight piece with a uniform cross section over the test length with larger ends for clamping. This kind of test can also be used to determine the mechanical strength of specific components such as cap and pin insulators.

Compression Test of Cable Duct Piping

Vickers Hardness Testing

Another technique widely used in materials analysis is Hardness Testing the most common test being the Vickers Hardness.

The Vickers hardness test is used to determine the ability of the material to resist plastic deformation. A sample of the material is placed under a diamond tip indenter with a known applied force. The indenter tip pushes into the material and the hardness can be calculated. The resulting hardness is given in Vickers Pyramid Number (HV) or Diamond Pyramid Hardness (DPH). The hardness of a material is calculated by the load applied during the test over the surface area of the indentation left on the surface of the sample.



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