The Testing Times

The Tinius Olsen Sales Team are spread all over the world, from the USA to China and almost everywhere else in between. George Jackson is an excellent case in point.    George is originally from Gloucestershire, where he spent a lot of his time playing rugby! He started at under 8’s and progressed all the way though the age groups to play for Thornbury RFC, with the highlight playing a cup final at the memorial stadium in Bristol – the old home of Bristol Rugby.    He also represented Bristol combination U20’s and his County at U20 level playing on major rugby grounds such as Gloucester’s  impressive ground, Kingsholm and the REC in Bath.   “I don’t get much chance to play these days, with my role here at Tinius Olsen taking priority. There’s also the Covid situation but never say never. If I never pick up a rugby ball again I have a huge number of great memories to look back on,” said George.    Starting his career in engineering with a Renisha...

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, n...

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...

Tinius Olsen are delighted to be supplying one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of electrical terminals and earthing products, as part of their significant company investment in 2020. Total Connections 2009 have made this investment to expand their in-house testing facility as a part of their overall product development strategy. Based in Calne, Wiltshire, they supply some of the largest organisations in the UK including Airbus (specifically A350), McLaren for non-production motorsport cars and BAE Systems for military applications. Other customers include Jaguar Cars, the London Underground and the Royal Navy.  They have also supplied products to the NHS Temporary Nightingale and Field hospitals in the fight against the current Covid 19 pandemic.  “Total Connections 2009 Ltd have made a significant investment in new machinery in 2020, mainly to automate our manufacturing processes and increase our overall offering,” said Director of Engineering, Ross Davies.  “A...

  Testing materials and components in academia? Then Tinius Olsen materials and component testing platforms; -       Support remote classes and witness testing of real time tests in the test lab -       Are supplied with video capture and post-test rerun and analysis tools – students can each have the testing platform live on their laptops -      Supports students and post grads in the production of digital thesis through embedded video, pictures of tests, results tables and captured data -       Safe operation of the platform\testing machine through a wireless handheld user interface – Just insert the test specimen, stand back and test!

An established contract manufacturer of high grade materials, state-of-the-art machinery and innovative team-oriented services have recently upgraded their quality testing capabilities with a new Tinius Olsen 5ST, 5kN testing machine. The company deliver everything from spinal implants, pedicle screw systems, implant-grade PEEK spacers and other medical devices.  Of particular interest for their quality program are their implant-grade PEEK spacers. PEEK, short for polyether ether ketone, is a semicrystalline thermoplastic polymer, with excellent mechanical and chemical resistance properties that are retained to high temperatures.  This colorless organic polymer has various engineering applications, as well as being considered an advanced biomaterial for the use in medical implants. These are commonly known as PEEK implants and include minimally invasive spinal, lumbar and thoracic implants. It is also used with a high-resolution magnetic resonance...

Strain Rate control of a tensile test Perfect Tensile strain Rate control with a Tinius Olsen using a model AEX automatic extensometer and Horizon test software control at a Chinese Aircraft manufacturer. Strain rate1.5%/min. as per ISO 6892 beautiful… We all know strain rate control is required for strain sensitive materials especially when it comes to composites, but it increasingly has a place in general metals testing because using strain rate control lowers the measurement of uncertainty when comparing test results from different models and types of testing machines and gauge length marking techniques.