Tensile Testing

Tensile testing involves pulling on a specimen material to determine the relationship between force and stretch, and the force at failure. This mechanical testing method is performed on virtually any kind of material: metals, plastics, paper, film, foil, wire, cordage etc.

There are many material properties that can be determined by tensile testing. Among the most common are:

Modulus
This is the measurement of the stiffness of a material - how much it deflects elastically for a given load.

Elongation
This is the total elastic and plastic (irreversible) stretch of the material before it breaks.

Ultimate Load
This is the maximum force that the specimen will accept before failure.

Yield Strength
This is the stress (load/area) at which a material begins to deform plastically.

Tensile testing can be performed on either finished products or specially cut or formed samples.

Careful consideration must be given to such issues as speed of testing, grip design and application, load cell selection, and others, to yield accurate and credible results.

This photo shows an ABS microtensile dogbone shaped specimen being subjected to monotonic tensile testing.		This photo shows a high-strength stainless steel foil specimen at the point of tensile failure.

Among the many industry standards used for tensile testing, some common ones are:

For more information on any of DDL's testing services, please contact us today or call 1-800-229-4235.