Fatigue testing
The term "fatigue" is used to describe the failure of a component under a repeatedly applied stress. A high percentage of operating failures of machine elements are due to fatigue and experience has shown that for satisfactory correlation with service behaviour, full size or large scale specimens must be tested under environmental conditions as close as possible to those existing, or expected, during service.
TRaC can design a bespoke fatigue testing programme which may include the design and build of the test rig which will allow the loads to be applied as required and the application of strain gauges to measure such loads, if required.
TRaC has the capability to test to a maximum force of 53kN with a maximum frequency of 50Hz and we are UKAS accredited to DEF STAN 00-970 standard and our in-house procedure COP No 15.
It has been established that it is important to carry out fatigue testing under environmental conditions as close to those that a component would experience during service and as such TRaC has the facilities to offer fatigue testing at temperature. Prefabricated enclosures used with liquid nitrogen and pre-conditioners can provide a range between -70°C and +170°C within which the test item can be conditioned.
