Mechanical testing of composites
Experimental characterization of fibre reinforced plastics is needed for qualification, product development and certification. Eurofins Expert Services provides a comprehensive test selection for fibre reinforced plastics.
In addition to testing, also other type of services to support the laminate design and strength analysis are provided.
Laminate characterization tests
The mechanical properties of fibre reinforced laminates can be characterized by variety of tests.
For instance, the following standard tests are conducted
- Tension and compression tests
- Bending tests
- Interlaminar shear strength tests (ILSS)
- Flatwise and out-of-plane tensile tests
- Impact tests
- Tests for sandwich structures
Tension, compression and bending tests can be static or dynamic fatigue. Environmental exposure or different ageing programs can also be carried out according to customer’s needs.
The typical laminate quality control tests are
- Barcol hardness measurements
- Fibre content measurements
- Void content measurements
- Non-destructive inspections
Instrumentation
In the most elemental mechanical tests only load and stroke of the testing ma¬chine are recorded. However, in many cases structural tests include more versatile instrumentation.
Available alternatives are
- Strain gages
- Extensometers
- Inductive displacement transducer
- Laser gages
- Optical 3D-strain measurement
- Thermometers
- Acoustic emission
Available resources
- Six universal testing machines with data acquisition
- Load capasities from 1 kN to 2 MN
- Extensive range of testing fixtures and equipment
The data recording frequency can be specified according to test demands. It is possible to provide the data to the customer for further analysis.
Our test laboratory fulfils the requirements of standard SFS-EN ISO/ IEC 17025:2005.
