Servocontrols for Automatic Tensile Testing

Abstract

Greater speed and reliability are seemingly contradictory goals, but both are evident in all facets of metal production and manufacturing today. Nowhere is this truer than in mechanical testing for quality control purposes. On the one hand, there is the “time is money” syndrome which rewards speed, sometimes at the expense of accuracy. But if testing is to play the role it should in quality control, it must permit adjustments in the metal producing process; to do this, greater speed in obtaining meaningful testing results is essential. But speed can invite carelessness in the name of expediency, and, no matter how carefully done, variables in the way different technicans perform routine tests can have a very important effect on the outcome, especially with strain-sensitive materials such as titanium, high-alloy steels, and superalloys.