Solutions for material testing engineers for optimal results

Solutions for materials testing engineers for optimal results - force measurement is an integral part of all types of engineering services throughout the entire development process of products, structures, consumer goods and the materials used to make them.

Early in the design and development processes, materials testing engineers use sensor technologies and measurement devices to measure the durability, fatigue, safety and quality of the materials used in their projects.

The job of a materials engineer is to develop, process, combine and test materials to be used in production. Based on the data collected and his or her specialist knowledge, the materials engineer determines and recommends the appropriate materials for specific applications. Ultimately, they are the basis of product development as they are responsible for the selection of materials based on the intended use of the product, the fulfillment of its task and function, and the durability of the materials. They also check the environmental impact and exposure of the materials.

Five categories of material testing

• Mechanical testing
• Thermal properties testing
• Testing for electrical properties
• Testing resistance to corrosion, radiation and biological decay
• Non-destructive testing (NDT)

Force measurement is most commonly used in the materials testing category of mechanical testing. This applies to testing materials used in all industries, including infrastructure, aerospace, automotive, industrial automation, consumer goods manufacturing and in the machines used to assemble products. Interface sensors are usually used in mechanical testing:

• Hardness Testing
• Tensile strength test
• Impact test
• Fracture toughness testing
• Creep test
• fatigue testing
• Non-destructive testing

Interface material testing engineers solutions

Material testing has been around since the first invention to determine the quality, durability and resilience of products and parts. What has changed over the centuries and decades is the sophistication of strength testing and measurement. Interface's robust load cells, torque transducers, multi-axis sensors and measuring devices are used in almost every material testing industry. If something needs to be measured, Interface has a solution.

Interface's force measurement products are used to collect material testing data in applications for industrial automation, structures, medical devices, ground and air vehicles, packaging, sports equipment and more. Material testing engineers ensure the reliability and safety of the selected materials. Here you will find examples of how material testing engineers can use our solutions to achieve optimal results.

Tensile testing of materials for 3D printing

Interface was contacted by a testing team looking for a solution to perform a pull test on various 3D printing materials to failure. Multiple types of materials should be tested. The 3D printing materials to be tested included PLA, PETG and ASA. The testing of the materials should evaluate the strength, quality, ductility and stiffness. Interface supplied our most popular load cell, the 1200 Standard Precision LowProfile™ load cell, which was installed in the engineer's test frame.

During the tensile test, force results were collected from the load cell, which was synchronized via Interface's instrumentation solution, the INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module. The results were displayed on the computer using the software provided by Interface. Read more about this application solution for material testing here.

Fatigue testing of bicycle frames

Fatigue testing is a critical materials test designed to ensure that the materials used in a product will last over an extended period of time. A company that manufactures bicycles wanted to conduct a fatigue test on its bicycle frames to analyze the strength of the frames, ensure durability and high quality standards. Interface suggested incorporating the Model 1000 Fatigue-Rated LowProfile™ Load Cell into the customer's bicycle frame fatigue tester. This load cell provides the customer with highly accurate results during the fatigue cycle.

The results are captured using the INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module and displayed on the customer's computer using software provided by Interface. The bike manufacturer successfully fatigue tested its bikes and received highly accurate results using Interface's load cells and gauges. Watch bike frame fatigue testing in this animated app note.