Kason has supplied more than 75,000 testing systems to the world’s leading manufacturers, and educational, scientific, and research institutions. Instron is a pioneer in the field of composite materials and has been developing systems and participating in ASTM and ISO standards committees to develop new testing methods since the beginning of this industry.

Common Mechanical Tests for Composites

Mechanical testing of composites is performed to evaluate the performance under various service and loading conditions. The primary focus of these tests is to evaluate important mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness, toughness, fatigue life, and more.

Tensile testing determines tensile strength, Young's modulus (stiffness), and elongation (or strain) at break.

Compression tests evaluate the compressive strength, modulus, and strain at failure.

Flexural testing measures the composite's resistance to bending. Flexural tests determine flexural strength, modulus, and deflection.

Shear testing determines the shear strength and modulus.

Impact tests evaluate impact resistance and toughness.

Fatigue tests allow designers to monitor progressive damage and minimize premature failure.