The Testing Times

It's sometimes necessary to attach a grip or fitting that has no way of self aligning , in these cases we've developed several ingenious ways to add this function to the machines. One of these methods is to use a Self- Aligning Fixture like the one shown in the picture. As it is designed to fit a 150 kN U-Series machine it is somewhat massive. The top thread being 1" UNF in diameter and the bottom an M33. It weighs, a not insignificant , 7kg; has a 110mm body diameter and is nearly a foot tall. The central pin that you can see has is supported by a Nitrile block which allows it to float, whilst absorbing the shock of a sample failure.

This attachment simply pulls nails and staples from wood, as you could imagine it is very important to know and understand the way in which fixings behave in wood. As wood is a natural substance each plank is different from the next, and it is the job of BS EN 1382:1999 to ensure that fixings (nails and staples in this case) that are a known quantity behave the same way in different kinds of wood (nails and staples are produced on mass and so are quantifiable). There are two attachments, one for nails and one for staples. It can hold a variety of nails and staples due to the taper on the attachments. The lower component holds the wood, it is common with ASTM D1037 & D1761 Standards which are similar wood tests.