Material Testing & Labs

Oftentimes, businesses need to know with certainty what materials are in the composite materials they intend to use — such as thermoplastics, resins and sandwich core materials.

Materials testing designed to measure shear strength typically quantifies how much stress a specimen can take before rupturing and is often used to test the strength of adhesives.

For any product that will undergo temperature changes — think of a satellite’s solar panel — thermal testing forms a vital part of verifying the material’s ability to function in its eventual environment of use.

For any product that will undergo temperature changes — think of a satellite’s solar panel — thermal testing forms a vital part of verifying the material’s ability to function in its eventual environment of use.

From plastics, concrete and metals to adhesives and rubbers, tensile/compression testing is a form of materials testing that places specimens under precise compressive loads to measure their ability to withstand compression before deformation occurs.

To verify that a given material will be able to reach a certain length of service before failure occurs, a corrosion test is often performed, especially for industries manufacturing infrastructure components expected to withstand certain environmental conditions for extended periods of time without degrading.

Especially for determining the ability of certain metals to absorb the resulting energy from a measured impact, this form of materials testing is used widely to test the toughness of a sample under challenging and often highly destructive conditions.

By applying a consistent force to materials such as polymers, glass, laminates and ceramics while they undergo varying temperature changes, thermomechanical analysis — or TMA — can determine the linear expansion and/or phase changes a specimen undergoes as a result of this materials test method.