FTI's Materials Testing Facility is an advanced mechanical testing laboratory with over 20 years of experience in static, fatigue and fracture testing of metals and composites. Major government and aerospace industry organizations recognize FTI's Materials Testing Facility as a leading specialist in fatigue and crack growth testing. With our complete in-house CNC machining production facility we are able to manufacture both metal and composite test specimens and other specialized fixtures. We use the latest computer-aided design/analysis (CAD/CAE) and program management tools to support out customers' test programs. Please contact us to learn more about our Materials Test Lab.
Test Lab
FTI's Materials Testing Facility is an advanced mechanical testing laboratory with over 20 years of experience in static, fatigue and fracture testing of metals and composites. Major government and aerospace industry organizations recognize FTI's Materials Testing Facility as a leading specialist in fatigue and crack growth testing. With our complete in-house CNC machining production facility we are able to manufacture both metal and composite test specimens and other specialized fixtures. We use the latest computer-aided design/analysis (CAD/CAE) and program management tools to support out customers' test programs. Please contact us to learn more about our Materials Test Lap.
Primary Testing Services
- Fatigue and crack growth under constant-amplitude or spectrum loading
- Fracture toughness and related tests
- Static testing including tension, compression, flexure of specimens and sub-components
- Environmental conditioning of metals and composites
All testing performed to ASTM or military standards and/or customer specifications.
Special Services
- Metallic specimen manufacturing and preparation
- Spectrum and load program development
- Custom test procedure development and specimen design
- Material allowable generation
- Composite specimen preparation
- On site cold expansion tooling design for special applications
- Cold expansion processing of parts
- Technical reports including data, test procedure and explanation of results
Test Equipment
- MTS Uniaxial Test Frames with TestStarII? and TestStarIIs? controllers
- Load capacity to ? 100,000 lbs. (445kN) and low load capacity control to ? 30 lbs. (134N)
- -300?F to +2,000?F (-149?C to +1093?C) temperature available during testing
- Strain gage instrumentation
- Automated crack growth measurement
- Standard and non-standard fixtures
- FTI designed Digital Traveling Microscope
Testing Methods
| Test Type: Metallic Static Property | Standard Test Method |
|---|---|
| Tension | ASTM E8, E21 |
| Compression | ASTM E9 |
| Bearing | ASTM E238 |
| Subcomponent | NA |
| Test Type: Metallic Fatigue | Standard Test Method |
|---|---|
| Axial | ASTM E466 |
| Flexure | NA |
| Low-cycle | ASTM E606 |
| Subcomponent | NA |
| Quasi-random (spectrum) loading | NA |
| Spectrum crack growth (a vs. N)t | NA |
| Test Type: Metallic Fracture Mechanics | Standard Test Method |
|---|---|
| Sharp notch tension | ASTM E338 |
| Surface crack tension | ASTM E740 |
| KIC - fracture toughness | ASTM E399 |
| JIC - J integral | ASTM E813 |
| R-curve | ASTM E561 |
| KTH - threshold stress intensity factor | ASTM E647 |