Science Materials Science & Engineering

Materials testing

materials-testing

There are many tests that can be done on materials to determine their properties or qualities. These tests can be either destructive or non-destructive.

Introduction
Materials testing is a respected and established technique that is used to ascertain both the physical and mechanical properties of raw materials and components.

Tensile testing
Firstly, we will look at the most common testing method – tensile testing. In the tensile test, a test piece is extended, usually to fracture, with a gradually increasing uniaxial tensile load, to determine the resistance of the material to the force.

Impact testing
The standard test for measuring impact energy is the Charpy test. This gives an indication of the characteristics of the material during fracture.

Fatigue testing
Many applications exist where a material is subjected to a repeated cyclic stress. These materials are found to fail after a large number of applications of the stress even though the cyclic stress that is applied is below their yield strength.

Hardness testing
There are two principal methods of testing the hardness of a material – scratch testing and indentation testing.