While the world is beginning to rely more and more on digital products and services each year, physical materials are not obsolete yet. In fact, they play an even more crucial role. Particularly in maintaining infrastructures for information, entertainment, business, government, healthcare, and communication. The use of the right materials ensures the smooth functioning of things like Spectrum Mobile plans, smart TVs, and even electric vehicles. Material testing helps manufacturers to ensure the right quality materials are used for their intended purpose. And with modern universal testing machines, the process becomes simpler and more efficient.
Learn more below.
What Is a Universal Testing Machine?
Companies that manufacture products (particularly complex ones) require different materials. These can include steel and other metals, rubber, carbon, and a range of other material types. But of course, no serious company wants to risk making a bad product, including one that uses low-quality materials. This is where materials testing comes in. Materials testing is an approach where the material is tested against the specifications necessary for use in a product. And that’s not to mention the cost of acquiring unsuitable material, reordering the right material, and all the transport and holding costs associated with it. This will only add to the cost. And by extension, this will make it harder for the product to compete against comparable ones. Here’s how universal testing machines are changing the game:
Test a Wide Range of Materials
Conventionally, different materials have required specialized testing machines. This helps companies ensure various materials meet the desired specs, but it also takes time and involves a lot of testing costs. However, universal testing machines offer a much simpler and more efficient alternative: a single machine to test all types of physical material. They can test steel, rubber, plastic, carbon fiber, and so forth with the same ease and efficiency. And most importantly, they remove the need for separate testing machines for each type of material.
Comfortably Test Larger Sample Sizes
Many universal testing machines come with vertical columns and a second horizontal plate to hold the sample being tested. Both the vertical and horizontal components play a big role in holding the sample securely while subjecting it to a variety of stress testing. Machines with more than one vertical column can handle larger and heavier samples. This gives them a greater testing capacity along with versatility.
Test Tensile and Flexural Strength
Stress testing is a way to test the durability or strength of a material when pulled apart or pushed in. This is an important test that lets manufacturers confirm if a material can handle the demands that regular use would put on the product. Any deformation or breakage that occurs below the desired threshold means the material is unsuitable for use.
Universal product testing helps address all of these problems by making it possible to conduct multiple tests on the same piece of equipment. More importantly, you can test multiple types of materials on the same testing machine. With a universal tester, the time and money involved in both types of tests go down dramatically. Also, the machine can perform both kinds of tests on various types of material.
Compression and Shear Capability
Compression tests and shear tests are two very different kinds of tests that usually involved separate testing equipment. A compression test applies constantly increasing pressure on a sample held between two plates. A shear test inserts a blade at constant speed until it shears through the sample. Both are additional ways to test the durability and strength of certain materials to see how far they can maintain their original shape. And with a universal testing machine, both are possible on the same piece of equipment.
The Advantages of Universal Testing Machines
Manufacturing companies, like any other business, need to build competitive products. With many competitors, products need to be competitive both in terms of quality and price. That means buying the right materials and making sure they are of the right quality. Of course, higher-quality materials usually drive the prices up as well. But without proper testing, even high-quality materials can prove unsuitable to certain requirements.
Material testing, therefore, becomes an important part of the manufacturing process. But the type of material and the type of test conventionally govern the equipment needed. This drives up testing costs, making products more expensive and less competitive. And that’s not to mention the cost of acquiring unsuitable material, reordering the right material, and all the transport and holding costs associated with it. This will only add to the cost. And by extension, this will make it harder for the product to compete against comparable ones.
Universal product testing helps address all of these problems by making it possible to conduct multiple tests on the same piece of equipment. More importantly, you can test multiple types of materials on the same testing machine. This saves time and money while letting businesses manufacture higher-quality products.
