Frontics is one of the pioneers in manufacturing portable ball indentors, for in-situ/non-destructive evaluation of tensile properties and hardness.
The system is light-weight and miniaturised for easy and fast transportation and installation. The indentation load-depth data can be converted to various tensile properties, through software installed in the data analysing computer.
The mechanical parameters that can be measured are as follows:
- Flow curve
- Yield strength
- Tensile strength
- Work hardening exponent
- Stress coefficient (K in the stress-strain correlation, σ= K ( ε))
- Vickers Hardness
- Rockwell Hardness A, C, D.
- Brinell Hardness (mini-ball)
AIS 2000 applications can be divided into two categories:
In the lab it can....
- Evaluate tensile properties of materials under development, without the need for a standard/conventional tensile-test
- Compare strength characteristics of weld/heat-affected zone/base metal and local regions with microstructural gradients for qualification/research purposes
- Provide basic mechanical properties for finite element analysis of similar/dissimilar materials
Out in the field it can....
- evaluate mechanical properties of ageing structures and facilities using non-destructive and in-situ analysis
- evaluate degradated properties of power plant and oil and gas company facilities for fitness-for-service and life assessment studies
- control the quality of materials and processed metal in cars, ships, trains and aircraft
For information about TWI’s capabilities, please email contactus@twi.co.uk