Home Parts Production Systems Testing Services InfoSheets Who We Are Contact Us Material Testing The testing process at Interlaken begins with investigation. We’ll be asking questions to determine the type of metal you want to examine or if it’s the performance of a specific lubricant. If you have certain tests you’d like to see, we’ll execute them. If you don’t know the best route to accomplish the goal, we’re here to help. Using standard and accepted methodology and tooling, ITC will determine the ability of your material to deform to produce complex parts. Bulge Testing LDH and Nakajima Testing Elevated Temperature Testing Digital Image Correlation Bulge Testing The biaxial bulge test is a destructive test method for determining the sheet material properties. In this test, the maximum effective strain achievable without local necking is much larger (usually double) than that in a tensile test. Material properties obtained from bulge tests emulate real-world stamping conditions. It’s a better test to obtain reliable material property data. Especially flow stress data for finite element simulation purposes. The bulge test is an especially suitable formability indicator. A sheet sample is clamped rigidly in the tools and bulged under pressure until it fractures. The burst pressure and burst dome height are recorded. Burst height indicates the formability of the material. The higher the dome height of a material at fracture, the better the formability of that material. Tube tests can identify problems caused by the tube forming and welding processes. LDH and Nakajima Testing The Limiting Dome Height (LDH) test is very useful for capturing forming limit data and for comparing materials. Strain path may be changed by changing the width of the specimen and you can obtain a range of strain states on a single specimen. The test runs in stroke control, while a load drop function detects necking. The software determines the height at necking and graphical analyzers record a full field of strain history. The LDH test uses rectangular blanks, while the Nakajima test uses circular blanks with the same tooling. Elevated Temperature Material Testing Elevated temperature testing using gas as the pressurization medium. Room temperature testing using fluid as the pressurization medium. Contact Us DIC (Digital Image Correlation) The system is used for measuring and visualizing both movement and strain. It is a complete source for calculating the shape, strain and displacement of surfaces in three dimensions. The DIC system allows the user to observe deformations over an entire area with no limit to single points. Critical points are easily identified, even on complicated structures or in complex loading conditions. The image correlated algorithms are accurate and fast. Real-time processing can be achieved with a quad-core processor. The calibration procedure is flexible and can even be done mid-test. It uses safe, simple white-light illumination. The system is very portable and results may be processed on the spot or easily exported. It runs on Windows operating systems and 3-D graphs may be cut and pasted into MS-Office applications. There is no contact between the system and the specimen. There is no mechanical interaction or need for a precise placement to achieve valid results. The system has no influence on vibrating specimens. Sample preparation is minimal, requiring only a random speckle pattern application. Then the system will detect arbitrary displacements and strains from 50 microstrain to 2000% strain for specimens ranging in size from <1mm to >10m. We rely on partnerships and long-term relationships. We work with exclusive technology to form impossible shapes and achieve extreme part consistency. We’ll make it, or we’ll help you make it. Industries Served: Automotive Aerospace Plumbing & HVAC Off-Road OEM Power Sports Medical Devices Steel Aluminum Oil & Gas Education Research Centers Memberships: Contact Us PHONE: +1 952 856 4210 8175 Century Blvd. Chaska, MN 55318 USA Veteran Owned Business Website by Zenternship