The automated miniature tensile testing system is a machine that has been developed in order to provide accurate tensile property data from a range of miniature dog-bone specimen samples. The application of miniature specimens is particularly suited for high-value materials and localized data. Some of the key characteristics of the machine are as follows:
- Autonomous operation using a cartridge-based system for preloading 24 miniature specimens.
- Minimal human capital needs and intervention which are limited to preloading the specimens and triggering the system.
- Full field of view digital image correlation (DIC) sampling for the entire gage length for stress/strain mapping.
- Small machine footprint (less than 2’ by 1’) and lightweight design for desktop installation and use.
- Rapid testing to conduct high throughput and accelerated material characterization and benchmarking.
- The ability to generate data including Yield tensile strength, Ultimate tensile strength, Youngs Modulus, Strain at Break, and Reduction in cross sectional area.
- Output load and image data for easy post processing to generate material properties
- Modular design to switch between different miniature specimen designs
Potential Applications:
- Gather bulk and localized material properties for metals and alloys made using any manufacturing process
- Assess and quantify process inconsistencies to recommend improvements
- Assess raw material inconsistencies between different vendors and batches
- Quantify heat treatment discrepancies
- Research topics like weld strength, work hardening, multi-material performance
- Generate 100's (maybe 1000's) of data points for process mapping and materials certification
- Generate data to feed into analytical and numerical models
- Use minimal materials, time and labor to quantify precious and hazardous materials