Furthermore, a high level of interest from the aerospace industry has resulted in a wide range of well-established static test methods giving reliable results. Sadly, there is still only limited consensus, so test houses and machine manufacturers find themselves maintaining an extensive catalog of fixtures in order to meet diverse international and industry standards. From this starting point, it might be argued that there is little news in composites testing, but in fact some exciting trends have started to develop.

Recently published in AM&P magazine, Peter Bailey, PhD - Sr. Applications Specialist - wrote an article on the growth in the dynamic testing market for composites.

Thermal image showing heating at failure of a static tensile test (1mm/min) of an impacted composite specimen

We are including it here for you to download.