The Testing Times

Major incidents and disasters down the years have helped shape the modern world of materials and structural testing to recognised International Standards. One such example happened in Boston over 100 years ago……………….   There have been many accidents and disasters over the years that could, and should, have been averted by effective materials testing. Indeed, on more than one occasion, with any materials testing at all! One such incident was the Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, which occurred on January 15, 1919 in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.  The tank at 529 Commercial Street before the disaster A large storage tank filled with 2.3 million US galloons, weighing approximately 13,000 short tons, of molasses burst and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h). The event entered local folklore and residents claimed for decades afterwards that the are...

Here at Tinius Olsen the engineers have designed yet another custom grip attachment. Two version of the new high temperature compression cages for use in an environmental chamber . Part numbers 270 032 & 270 033. The Compression cages are rated at 25kN and 50kN, and can be tested at temperatures between -70 to +200 degrees C. They are designed to test the largest possible samples that can be tested in the Environmental chamber . As sample with maximum size of 100mm wide x 200mm deep x 200mm high. For more information contact us.

Here at Tinius Olsen, we manufacture a range of different measuring devices to measure the defletion of the material you are testing. One of these tools is the 'Pipe crush LVDT'. This tool is used in compression tests of plastic pipes to accurately measure the pipe deflection at given forces. We supply different sizes corresponding to the different pipe diameters. For more information on LVDT's or other extensometers used to measure the deflection of a sample under going test visit our main website here or contact us .

As mentioned before, we do a wide range of platens (two parallel plates that are used to compress the test specimen...) Often the sample is uneven or has protruding features, the fixed platens are less effectual in this instance. In cases like this, self aligning platens distribute the load across the sample by increasing the contact area. (The arrows show movement...)

Imagine trying to hold a piece of fibre insulation (the stuff in your roof that stops the heat escaping) in a clamp and then pulling it apart using a tensile test, how on earth do you do it? It’s fibrous, comes in different thicknesses, breaks of easily into chunks… Well the answer is Nails, and lots of them. This is the most effective way to distribute the load across and through this particular sample, this means that the test specimen isn’t overly damaged when you grip it. If the sample is ‘waisted’ properly (like an hour glass), it will break in the weakest spot, not by the grip. This is a technique used time and again with all kinds of samples. You want to see how the material will break under load, not how the grip breaks it, and then the load pull it apart. As there are a lot of nails it’s quite hard to push them through the top surface of the specimen (Imagine trying to nail 20 nails at once into something soft. It might be soft but there is a lot of friction to overcome). To ...

At first sight, one of less intricate but useful tests is compression tests. This is basically applying a force (measured in Newton’s) to the sample and measuring the effect the force has. There are a wide range of tools for doing this but in general platens are used to hold the sample and apply the force. Platens are large flat surfaces that can be used to compress a sample… The S0404 platens are big, very big. They fit on the 100 kN U-series Systems (they can apply a force of 100 kN to an object) Tinius Olsen produce… These behemoth platens are 350mm x 350mm and 35mm thick plough ground plate. I’m a big chap and I can’t lift one on my own… A brute force approach, but the feedback received through the Loadcell and Compressometer is very precise and can show how much force a sample can take and spring back or fail. The results gleaned from these tests can tell a great deal about the product under test, the 'intelligence' comes in the form of the Software, which can be use...