In the early stage of product development the right choice of material is often the decisive advantage on the way to market success. Manufacturers make every effort to reduce weight and costs or boost performance in vehicles, machines, equipment and constructions, as well as consumer goods of all types.
The design and experimental testing of materials such as metals, alloys, construction materials, plastics and composite materials, as well as ceramics or additive manufactured materials is essential for the structural integrity of innovative products. This is expressed in the relevant documentations of stability and functional reliability. Reliable materials testing is therefore a crucial part of product development. The goals of material testing are to rule out the possibility of damage by ensuring the necessary safety and to reduce the weight of the overall system economically and with innovative solutions.
Industrial materials testing breaks down into various categories for determining material properties or characteristics with respect to the effects of mechanical, thermal and electrical factors such as corrosion, radiation and biological decay.
This is often referred to as a “coupon test”, although a coupon test can be regarded as a stage after the “classic” materials test: The advantage of coupon tests is that they allow very efficient and cost-optimized testing of different variations of the original test specimen immediately following the separate material tests, if necessary.
In general, there are two types of material tests – destructive and non-destructive
Destructive Materials Testing
In destructive materials testing the test specimens are destroyed, in order to determine maximum loads and their effect on the specimen. The component under test or the material sample can then no longer be used.
Non-Destructive Materials Testing
In non-destructive materials testing the quality of a test specimen is tested without damaging or destroying it. This makes it possible to ensure that the material is of sufficient quality for the next processing stage and will be able to withstand loads reliably and lastingly. The component under test or the material sample can still be used afterwards.
Both types of test determine the load limits the material can withstand before it breaks and / or is deformed. The ambient conditions for these tests can differ depending on the test itself and the particular industry. The goal of mechanical materials testing is always to gain knowledge of the material properties in response to the effects of forces such as compression, tension, bending, shearing or torsion, as well as fatigue properties and material characteristics under different loads. These material tests are the basis for the unequivocal description and comparison of material properties.
(Quasi) Static Tests:
Forces (pulling, pushing or bending) are exerted very slowly or constantly on a material sample.
Dynamic Tests:
The sample is subjected to an abrupt force or a period force over an extended period.
Areas of application & industries
Especially the GTM force transducers of the series K, DR, RF with their high precision and low sensitivity to parasitic influences such as shear forces, bending moments, torsional moments and temperature fluctuations, are ideal for widespread use in test benches for materials testing. GTM multi-axis transducers of the series MKA can are likewise a perfect solution.
GTM force sensors, force measuring chains and multi-axis sensors are therefore one of the core components in testing machines, which always deliver high-precision and reliable measurements as the basis for testing machines with outstanding overall performance. The patented force transducer series DR with their two integrated accelerometers even allow the easy and effective measurement and processing of influences resulting from inertial forces of the test bench setup during dynamic measurements – a real benefit for the customer. Materials test benches are used in diverse industries such as the transport and automotive sector, aviation and aerospace, rail technology, machine and plant engineering, plastics, special machinery, food processing and packaging, medicine and pharmaceuticals, as well as in national and international research institutes.
