Tensile strength is one of the principal characteristics that defines a material’s mechanical behavior. It determines a product’s resistance to axial tension, or pulling forces, and is quantified as the point at which the material will fail due to strain. This is a useful metric for acquiring measuring numerous material properties including yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and Young’s modulus. However, the tensile strength of finished products may vary due to pressure variations or fluctuating temperatures.
Laboratory ovens are often used to facilitate tensile testing under high thermal conditions. This provides accurate information regarding the material’s resistance to thermodynamic stress that is more reflective of the end-product conditions. An aluminum turbine blade, for example, must be assessed to ensure the material is suitably strong at rest and during periods of operation when the component will generate heat, sustaining varying levels of thermal strain.
This blog post will explore the use of laboratory ovens for advanced tensile testing in more detail:
Thermcraft Laboratory Ovens for Materials Testing
LAB-TEMPTM laboratory ovens are broadly used for advanced materials testing worldwide, providing advanced heat treatment chambers for precise quantitation of a material’s resistance to thermal stress. This versatile range of laboratory ovens can be augmented to facilitate additional measuring instrumentation and introduce mechanical stress to the material under test.
Our range of laboratory ovens for materials testing is divided into three distinct product series: LBO; LSL; and LSP. These heat treatment furnaces cover a thermal processing range up to 1700°C (3092°F) and can be built to custom dimensions with accommodations for additional test machines.
Hot tensile testing can be performed using contact or non-contact methods depending upon the laboratory oven capabilities. A split tube furnace may facilitate an external extensometer via custom mounting brackets and a pull rod that plugs one or both ends of the heating compartment. Thermocouples in the control zone monitor the heating compartment to determine the actual thermal values of the test chamber rather than the ceramic heating elements. When the sample has reached a desirable temperature, the pull rod can apply axial strain and the extensometer can acquire stress measurements in response to these bespoke thermodynamic conditions.
These experiment parameters can be altered to suit bespoke furnaces in both the LBO box oven and high-temperature split tube furnaces.
Applications of Hot Tensile Testing
Hot tensile testing is typically used to characterize materials for application in severe thermodynamic conditions. Components for internal combustion engines, blades for energy-generating turbines, and materials for aerospace engineering may be subject to hot tensile testing to ensure maximum service longevity under extreme temperatures and tensile stress.
Laboratory Ovens from Thermcraft
Thermcraft is a world-leader in the manufacture and supply of custom laboratory ovens for novel applications. Our LAB-TEMPTM range of products has been used in standard and bespoke configurations to perform an array of materials characterization techniques, including tensile, creep, fatigue, compression, and durability testing.
Find out more about the LAB-TEMP TM range of Laboratory Furnaces and Ovens from Thermcraft, or contact us if you would like any more information about our laboratory oven capabilities.