Testing
IncoTest — Hereford, England

Mechanical Testing Services

 

Comprehensive mechanical, creep, fatigue, metallographic, and corrosion testing from some of the best equipped laboratories in the world.

Mechanical Testing

Comprehensive Material Property Determination

 

IncoTest laboratories are equipped for a comprehensive determination of the mechanical properties of engineering materials. Tests are performed to national, international, and clients' specifications across a full range of product forms — bar, sheet, wire, tube, and fasteners.

Digital instrumentation is used throughout for instrument control and data capture, suitable for material property validation, quality control, and R&D purposes.

Tensile & Creep
Impact & Fatigue
Hardness
Metallography
Tensile Testing

Tensile Testing

 

Mechanical properties are evaluated using computer-controlled tensile testing frames running the latest software. Capability extends across a wide range of product forms — from very fine wire and strip to precision machined test pieces extracted from forgings. Tests can be performed on fastener components through to full section bar and tube.

Ambient Up to 1200°C
Ambient Tensile Testing
 

Tensile testing in accordance with various common industry standards at ambient temperature.

ASTM E8 ASTM A370 BS EN ISO 6892-1 BS EN 2002-1
Elevated Tensile Testing — to 1200°C
 

Tensile testing in accordance with various common industry standards, including ASTM E21, BS EN ISO 6892-2, BS EN 2002-2.

ASTM E21 BS EN ISO 6892-2 BS EN 2002-2
Product Form Coverage

From very fine wire and strip through to full section bar and tube. Fastener components and precision machined test pieces extracted from forgings are also accommodated.

Impact Testing

Charpy Impact

 

A standardised high-strain rate test which determines the amount of energy absorbed by a material during fracture. This absorbed energy is a measure of a material's toughness and is used to study temperature-dependent ductile-brittle transition.

Temperature Range
−196°C to Ambient

Tests can be conducted at temperatures ranging from −196°C to ambient.

Notch Configurations
V-Notch & U-Notch

Standard notch configurations V-Notch & U-Notch.

Applicable Standards
ASTM E23 BS EN ISO 148-1
Hardness Testing

Hardness

 

Hardness is a characteristic defined as the resistance of the material to deformation, penetration, scratching, or other physical force. IncoTest offers a range of methods.

Vickers

Standard and low force Vickers hardness, including microhardness.

Brinell

10/3000 standard and 2.5/187.5 low load Brinell methods.

Rockwell

Rockwell (B & C)

Full Method Coverage

Vickers (standard, low force, microhardness) · Brinell 10/3000 and 2.5/187.5 · Rockwell B & C. Suitable across bar, forgings, sheet, and component sections.

High-Temperature Testing

Stress Rupture & Creep

 

IncoTest has one of the largest and best equipped stress rupture and creep laboratories in Europe — operating in a dedicated, air-conditioned environment controlled at 21±2°C.

400
High-Sensitivity Creep & Stress Rupture Machines

Operating at up to 1200°C in a controlled laboratory environment. One of the largest facilities in Europe.

1200°C
Max operating temperature
5T
Max load capacity per machine
Stress Rupture Testing
 

Stress rupture is defined as the sudden and complete failure of a material under stress. During testing, the sample is held at a specific load level and temperature for a pre-determined amount of time. IncoTest machines range from direct load to lever types with a load range up to 5 tonnes.

Creep Strain Testing
 

Creep is defined as the time-dependent deformation of a material under an applied load below its yield strength. Creep strain tests use high-temperature extensometry and high-precision transducers — automatically logged and processed by a supervisory computer.

Specimen Types
Flexible Test Piece Formats
  • Smooth specimens
  • Combination (smooth & notched)
  • Miniature test pieces
  • Flat specimen designs
Machining Capability
In-House Specimen Manufacture

Low stress plunge grinding for hard alloys. Threading to unified, metric, BS, or client specifications. Specialists in miniature test specimen manufacture.

Applicable Standards
ASTM E139 ASTM E292 BS EN ISO 204 BS EN 2002-005
Fatigue Testing

Fatigue

 

Fatigue testing characterises material or component behaviour during cyclic loading, determining how cyclic forces will affect a product or material over time using varying loads, speeds, and temperatures to create predictive patterns for material behaviour.

Low Cycle Fatigue Testing

Carried out on servo hydraulic machines under load or stroke control conditions. Temperatures ambient to 1200°C. Forces up to ± 100kN.

1200°C
Maximum test temperature
±100kN
Maximum force capacity
Both
Load & stroke control modes
Analytical Testing

Metallography & Corrosion

 

IncoTest laboratories are equipped for the preparation and evaluation of a wide range of alloys and materials. Microstructural, corrosion, and physical testing capabilities are detailed below.

Physical Testing

Measurement of the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion and other physical material properties.

Microstructural Evaluation
Structure & Phase Analysis
  • Microstructural evaluation & phase distribution *
  • Digital image capture via optical microscopy *
  • Grain size determination
  • Structural evaluation
  • Non-metallic inclusion / cleanness assessment
  • Case depth / coating depth assessment
  • Alpha case evaluation
Corrosion Testing
Corrosion Resistance Evaluation
  • Pitting & crevice corrosion resistance — ASTM G48 A *
  • Susceptibility to intergranular corrosion — ASTM G28 Method A & B *
  • Intergranular attack — ASTM A262 Method C & E *
  • BS EN ISO 3651-1 Method A *
  • BS EN ISO 3651-2 Method A *
Activities marked * are not UKAS accredited. All other testing is performed under our accredited quality management system.
Working with IncoTest

Contact Us for an Estimate on Your Testing Needs

IncoTest provides high quality, cost effective materials testing services from some of the best equipped laboratories in the world. Operating 24 hours a day, orders are processed as quickly as possible to meet customers' delivery requirements.