The NPL Materials Group has considerable experience in the mechanical characterisation of all classes of materials including metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, adhesives and composites. A range of state of the art laboratories contains an extensive array of test equipment for static, dynamic and durability testing of materials.

• Static testing
• Uni-axial (± 500 kN, -150 °C to 350 °C within standard environmental chambers, up to 1000 °C using furnaces)
• Biaxial testing of polymers
• Multi-axial (± 50 kN, ± 50 mm stroke)
• Tension, compression, flexure, shear and fracture toughness measurements
• Dynamic
• High rate (± 35 kN, 1 to 2 m/s, -150 °C to 350 °C)
• Drop weight impact (up to 4 metre drop height, < 900J, -55 °C to 200 °C)
• Durability
• Cyclic fatigue
• Uni-axial (± 100 kN, 0.002 to 50 Hz)
• Multi-axial (± 50 kN, 0.002 to 25 Hz)
• Creep
• Metals and composites (+ 30 kN, 23 °C to 900°C and ± 500 kN, 23 °C
  to 350 °C)
• Polymers (tensile only, 0 to 750 N, 0 to 100 °C)
• Slow strain rate testing (liquids and gas exposure, 4.5 x 10-7 m/s)
• Environmental stress cracking (tension and flexure, all liquids, 0 to 1 kN)
• Creep rupture (tension and flexure, 0 to 50 kN)
• Miniaturised testing - ETMT
• Wide range of tests including high temperature tensile, creep, TMF, CTE, identification of phase change
• Tests up to 1300 ºC using DC heating
• Typical specimen size is 40 x 1 x 1 mm
• Modulus measurement
• Static measurement to ASTM E111 or dedicated NPL procedures
• Dynamic measurements using Impulse Excitation Technique (IET) for measuring Young's modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio up to 1000 ºC

Contact

Customer Service tel: +44 20 8943 8681
E-mail: materials_enquiries@npl.co.uk