The Testing Times

Technical experts at Tinius Olsen have contributed their technical prowess to industry publications and their readers for many years.  This month one of the leading titles within the plastics industry, Plastics Technology, have published an excellent interview with our own Applications Specialist, Harry Yohn. The feature takes an in-depth at the use of a melt indexer, such as the MP1200, to test the melt flow rate as defined by current test standard procedures.   Harry has been a product applications specialist for Tinius Olsen since 1996 and has nearly 32 years of experience in mechanical and testing of plastics. He is also Vice Chair of the ASTM International Committee D20 on Plastics, as well as Subcommittee Chairman for the Thermal Properties group, D20.30. He has also been honored with several ASTM Service Awards. In the Plastics Technology interview, Harry suggests that although all operators say they follow the published test standards, such as ASTM D1238 or ISO 1133, not all ar

Plastics pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues facing us today as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Europe alone releases micro plastics equivalent to 10 billion plastics bottles into the environment every year through such products as fabric softeners, shampoos and cosmetics, as well as agricultural and industrial products. This extremely damaging environmental problem has become so serious it has prompted efforts to write a global treaty, negotiated by the United Nations. Over half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years, with current production levels standing at almost 500 tonnes annually. This is generating some 381 million tonnes of plastic waste over the same period. So where do we go from here? One solution to industrial plastic waste has been developed by Cambridge based Xampla. The company has created the world’s first plant protein material

These grips are used to test seat belts and webbing up to 100mm thick. seat belts have interesting properties, they have to cushion the shock of a crash without injuring the passenger of the car at low speed stops. In a collision it has a precise elastic limit, meaning that it stretching slightly to diffuse the shock, goes beyond its elastic limit, becomes plastic then holding it's passenger without breaking, there is a great deal of force involved in this process (which is why these grips are rated to 100 kN ...) The testing can be quite explosive as the belt stores a great deal of energy before failing. By exerting a tensile force on the belt it is possible to see how it will behave. One of the important features of this grip is that it is self tightening. The specimen is feed through the grips in a specific manner as not to damage the belt. A damaged belt can dramatically affect its ability to protect the passenger, and once it has been stretched to it's elastic limit and