The Testing Times

Testing thermoplastic materials for puncture resistance is recognized as an important aspect for ensuring product quality as stated in the ASTM D4830 standard. Tinius Olsen’s test specific attachment, the model S348, implemented on a H5K-S machine, is best suited for this test. The configuration complies with the key test parameters of ASTM D4830, having a tensile testing machine, ring clamp attachments capable of clamping without slippage, and solid steel rod with hemispherical end & hardness range of 50 to 60 HRC. A specimen of the fabric is clamped between grooved, circular plates of the ring clamp attachment, which is itself secured in an H5K-S tensile testing machine. A steel rod, attached to a load cell in the movable cross-head of the tester,   is lowered onto the specimen at a constant rate until the specimen ruptures; the resultant rupture force, in N or lbf,   of the thermoplastic fabric is captured and reported. Now what makes it even better is that the punct

Tinius Olsen engineers are continuously working to improve the effectiveness of gripping technology to make testing quicker, easier and more comprehensive.  One of their recent developements are our wedge grip adaptors. These adaptors work with our model HW14 100kN wedge grips & help  operators test smaller samples without the effort of removing these heavy high force grips. This cost effective solution allows smaller capacity grips to be fitted to the testing machine for lower force tensile tests  & makes the work easier.

Today we find IDC Connectors being used in almost all electronic equipment, from computers to automated robotic systems and are used in homes, offices and factories the world over. A loose cable can cause a huge number of headaches for service and maintenance personnel and operators so a program of thorough testing has been put in place by manufacturers to ensure loose cable problems are a thing of the past. Tinius Olsen Engineers have developed a set of grips for these manufacturers to specifically test the tensile strength of cable on IDC connectors. The images here show the grip’s arrangement with Tinius Olsen’s HT33, and HT47, standard grips along with our special grip reference S707 on Tinius Olsen’s H5K single column tensile tester. The model S707 shown here is the lower grip that features a clamping area that can be adjusted to accommodate varying sizes of IDC connector; you can see from the photos that the special grip is designed so that it can be used in both the hor

  Beginning right from the 1 st century AD, syringes have played an important role in human lives. They are now widely used in a variety of applications, including administration of medication, precise measurement of fluid and in the application of compounds such as lubricants. Ensuring the quality of syringes and needles has always been crucial.  Tinius Olsen ’s H5K-S / H5K-T tension and compression testing machine, along with test specific attachment reference S442 as per international standards ISO 7886 and ISO 8537, is capable of providing complete testing solution which includes measuring the force to operate a syringe, freedom from air & liquid leakage, puncture forces and pull off forces. The tests are easily performed from within our Horizon software, and the accurate and reliable results are included in the generated test report. The output graph (of force vs. displacement), gives a graphical representation of the component performance dur

Tinius Olsen   engineers have developed more new attachments for the destructive testing of Baby Pacifiers with the key focus being the health & safety of infants. According to a Nationwide survey on ‘Baby Bottles, Pacifiers & Sippy cups’ by US News & World Report, in May 2012, over the past couple of decades there have been over 45,000 cases of problematic pacifiers, in the US alone.              There are a number of tests that can be performed by Tinius Olsen’s attachments on baby pacifiers, including puncture, tear, component pull off, and a Bite Endurance Test. Tinius Olsen grip reference S355 is used with one of our benchtop tension and compression testing machines, and as the pictures above demonstrate, the grip tests the bonding between the teat and the knob/plug; the international test standards that the S355 grip was designed for are EN1400 and ASTM F963-08.   These tests are designed to ensure that the teat stay bonded to the plug, ensuring infants

Testing latex rubber rings is not a problem anymore. With Tinius Olsen’s test attachment RT16 you get complete speed control of the rotating grip via a control unit independent of the tensile test speed. Test specimen O-ring is rotated at a programmed speed of 10 to 50rpm as the tensile load is applied; ensuring no particular area of O ring is exclusively subjected to the tensile load.    What makes it more reliable is that it complies with international standards – ISO 4074/9, ASTM D3492, and BSEN 600:1996

Continuous improvements by Tinius Olsen engineers have made testing foams easier & effective. Flexible cellular materials, including slab, bonded & molded urethane foams, can be tested using Tinius Olsen’s material testing machines & Horizon software. The redesigned platens ensure that air from inside the foam specimen is allowed to escape, by including “air relief” holes; without these holes the trapped air can create back pressure and erroneously increase the indicated compressive strength. These platens are designed in accordance with ASTM D3574.

Plastic bottles have found increasingly wide application in the food and beverage industries nowadays, with plastic bottles in all shapes and sizes for soft drinks, juices and water found everywhere in our daily life. Along with their wider application and acceptance are more, and stricter, requirements for quality and safety control and testing. One such test is the p ull-off strength of plastic bottle caps where the force required to pull the bottle cap off the bottle is routinely checked and monitored by manufacturers. These manufacturers commonly use a Tinius Olsen tensile tester to take these measurements. In these cases, Tinius Olsen recommends the use of the grip attachment model S540, which comprises of two parts; the lower bottle cap holder and the upper cap “Pull off” attachment. Operators simply insert the cap in the lower attachment, lower the upper attachment onto the cap and start the tensile test; at the end of the test, the testing machine reports the “Pull Off forc

Tinius Olsen engineers have continued their efforts to help the dental industry with another innovative grip design, this time it is a small 3 point bend test attachment used for filling materials. In this test, the specimen is supported on two lower points of contacts while the flexural, or bending, force is applied by the third, upper, point of contact. This is Tinius Olsen attachment part no. 360-001 and is typically used with a Tinius Olsen electromechanical tension / compression testing machine & is compliant with ISO 4049:2000 Key specifications of the attachments are: The lower two points of contact have a span of 20mm. Each point of contact (upper and lower) is   comprise of a 2mm diameter roller. Typical maximum forces expected is 1kN (100 kgf/220 lbf).

This High Temperature Extensometer is a rugged strain gauge based extensometer and is designed for strain and elongation measurements in material testing. The extensometer mounts directly to the furnace via a water cooled bracket , while the alpha grade silicon carbide arms contact the sample. The extensometer features quick release water cooling lines, a gauge length setting tool, and full Wheatstone bridge principle of operation which allows it to operate at temperatures of up to 1200 o C

Tinius Olsen makes its mark in the Dental Industry by manufacturing special  test attachments which are used for a variety of tests including the adhesive strength of braces on teeth, the tensile strength of a composite tooth post, to name just a couple.   Other test which can be carried out using the test machine include regular tensile, shear, bond strength (tensile and shear), flex bend, peel, compression and puncture .

Tinius Olsen has developed a new 3 point bend test jig for testing both interlocking and non-interlocking concrete roofing tiles, and associated fittings for roof and wall cladding materials. This new jig addresses several issues, namely: The load supports have a radius of 10mm to 20 mm. The length of the supports are  longer than the width of the sample tile. The upper loading support and the support nearest the tile tail are free to pivot   along their axis to prevent extraneous loading and any off-centered loading. This transverse strength attachment solution from Tinius Olsen can be used with other manufacturers’ testing machines. This new jig is fully compliant with the BS EN 491 standard.

Tinius Olsen Engineers have designed a new custom attachment for testing the bearing strength of plastics. This attachment is used with Tinius Olsen’s  S and/or  T series of benchtop tensile testers and Horizon software to report bearing strength.  The bearing strength test is designed to replicate the loading on plastics sheet, or plastics products, where rivets, bolts or similar fasteners are used to join sections and show the bearing stress versus the deformation of the hole for rivet/bolt etc. The allowable deformation of the hole in the material should be enough so that there is no looseness of the joint.  As the picture shows, the grip includes an LVDT Extensometer that precisely measures the amount of hole deformation. This attachment follows the guidelines of ASTM D953.

TO’s new grip model 161-001 is designed for testing thermoplastic pipes, using dumbbell shaped specimens that are cut from the walls of thick plastics pipes.  The key feature of these grips is that they are able to accommodate the curvature of the specimens taken from the pipe walls. These grips can test a 60mm deep sample complying with ISO6259-3 Type 1 & ISO527-2 Type 1B standards, and are rated at a maximum load of 25kN and have an operating temperature range of -10 to 50 o C

A problem one customer was trying to eliminate was the potential of electrical connectors separating in their application which could be in highly inaccessible areas. In this application, the connectors are being used to supply power to sensors used to determine the presence of oil in drilled wells in the sea bed or deep in the desert. This test attempts to simulate what the sensors could be subjected to by rotating the power connector by +/- 100 degrees and repeating this cycle 2000 times. The solution our engineering design team came up with is one of our 5kN test frames, a customized jig to hold the specimen and a mechanical fixture that rotates the specimen 100 degrees as the crosshead is raised; the machine and fixtures are connected to a pc running our Horizon software that controls the test frame and monitors the data coming from it. As for the final result, operator looks for any visual wear in the connector.