Physical and Mechanical Testing
Magnetic Materials Testing
The backbone of magnetic test equipment at EMSL consists of a Brockhaus MPG 100D AC/DC hysterisisgraph system and other supporting instruments. Listed are some examples below, at EMSL we can measure the properties of “soft” magnetic materials (such as electrical steels) and all “hard” magnetic materials (AlNiCo, ferrite, SmCo, NdFeB, and plastic composite).
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Saturation polarization (Js)
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Relative permeability (μr)
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Remanence (Br) and coercivity (HcB)
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Core loss
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DC and AC (up to 10,000 Hz) B-H curve
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Epstein frame and ring samples testing for soft-magnetic materials
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Demagnetization curve of permanent magnet (testing temperatures up to 200°C)
Thermal Analysis
Thermal analysis is often used to determine various physical properties and phase transition points in a metallic material. EMSL’s capability in thermal analysis includes the following instruments:
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TA Instrument Discover Hi-Res TGA (thermogravimetric analyzer): RT-1200°C range with maximum 2000C/min heating rate.
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TA Instrument Discover m-DSC (modulated differential scanning calorimeter): -180°C to 725°C, ultra-sensitive and high resolution.
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TA Instrument Q600 simultaneous DSC-TGA: RT-1500°C, simultaneous measurement of heat flow and weight change provides unique information.
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TA Instrument Q800 DMA (dynamic mechanical analyzer): provide viscoelastic measurement of materials from 1000Pa to 1000GPa, -150°C to 600°C and frequency range of 0.01 to 200Hz, ultra-sensitive force measurement down to 0.0001 Newton, and nanometer resolution in displacement measurement.
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In addition, EMSL’s thermal analysis equipments are coupled with other high sensitivity instrument such as GC/MS, which provides an important means to investigate the heat induced chemical changes and chemical composition. - Mechanical
Mechanical Testing
EMSL offers a wide range of mechanical testing services, ranging from tensile, compression, hardness, torsion, creep, to fatigue and impact testing. The mechanical testing equipment at EMSL includes:
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MTS Insight 150 universal testing system (150kN): -150°C to 1200°C,
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MTS Landmark 22kip servohydraulic fatigue testing systems: multiple units, high frequency and high displacement capable, testing temperature from -150°C to 300°C.
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Tinuis Olsen Unviversal Testing System (1000kN): compression and tensile testing for tasks requiring high load force.
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Tinuis Olsen H5KS Unviversal Testing System (5kN): desktop low force test system for tensile and compression testing of plastics.
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Instron MT10 Torsion Testing System (10000 lb-in): general torsion testing.
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Instron SI-1C3 Digital Impact Testing Machine (406 Joule): certified Charpy and Izod impact testing per ASTM standards.
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Tinuis Olsen Low Energy Impact Tester: Impact testing per ASTM D 256 (Izod Impact); ASTM D 6110 (Charpy Impact);
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Wilson 574T Twin Scale Rockwell Hardness Tester: Rockwell hardness testing per ASTM E18.
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Wilson Microindentation Hardness Tester: microhardness testing per ASTM E384.
Particle Size and Surface Area Analysis
In manufacturing or application processes which involves metallic or other types of particles, it is often critical to have detailed knowledge of particle size distribution, surface area, and porosity. EMSL’s instrumentation in this testing field include state-of-the-art BET surface area analyzer based on physical and chemical adsorption (by Micromeritics), dynamic light scattering particle size and zeta-potential analyzers (by Horiba and Malvern), small angle X-ray scattering – SAXS (by Rigaku), imaging analysis using optical or high resolution electron microscopy, and precision mechanical sieving. Using these techniques EMSL can analyze the particles with sizes all the way down to 0.6 nanometers, and determine many other properties of a particulate material.
Non-Destructive Testing
EMSL provides Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) services, using a Magnaflux ADH-2045 AC/DC wet horizontal magnetic particle inspection system, following methods such as ASTM E1444.