Keywords
Citation
(2003), "Composite testing capacity raised", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 75 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2003.12775daf.008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Composite testing capacity raised
Composite testing capacity raised
Keywords: Composites, Testing
The installation of another large testing machine has reportedly raised mechanical testing capacity by at least a third at Ireland's Composites Testing Laboratory in Galway.
For loads up to 250 kN, the new floor-mounted, twin-column universal tester from Zwick joins two existing testing systems – both high capacity to provide a much-needed additional resource to cope with an expanding long-term order book.
One of the few specialist laboratories to focus mainly on the certification and qualification of composites, CTL will use the machine for an unusually broad range of mechanical tests on carbon-reinforced plastics and glass fibre-reinforced plastics, most of them for employment in aerospace technology.
Carried out to EN, ISO, BS and Airbus Industrie specification, the procedures include tensile, compression, shear, fatigue, flexure, interlaminar and other tests on composite specimens supplied by CTL customers or made in the company's own workshop.
To enable specimens to be tested realistically at or near actual working temperatures, the machine is equipped with a temperature chamber.
CTL says that the work requires high rigidity in machine construction with extremely accurate alignment precision. Zwick's flexible "testXpert" software was also judged by CTL to be the easiest to use of those examined, allowing standard tests to be set-up quickly and accurately, with comprehensive reporting of results visually and on hard copy.
CTL grew out of a material-development project between the National University of Ireland (Galway), Airbus UK Limited and the Irish Government. Achieving ILAB accreditation under the European Accreditation of Laboratories scheme, the company was formed in 1999 to provide specialised services in the mechanical, environmental and physical testing of composites.
Details available from: Zwick Testing Machines Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1568 615201.