Testing of metallic materials and alloys

Throughout the casting and machining processes, as well as during the product’s lifetime, the chosen material will be subjected to many external forces. By testing mechanical properties, manufacturing professionals can make the right material and process decisions.

In the manufacturing world, the most important mechanical properties depend on the intended use of the product. Since mechanical properties vary depending on the environment, the design process must perform a thorough analysis of the environment in which the product will be developed, including temperature, humidity and load requirements.

Similarly, all the forming processes to which the material will be subjected before becoming a final product must also be taken into account.

Often, materials and reverse engineering experts are tasked with finding a balance between performance metrics, such as strength, and process metrics, such as machinability. But how can we know all this? The answer is very simple, thanks to metallic materials testing.

The most common metal materials tests include chemical analysis, tensile properties, and flexural and hardness tests. This combination of tests provides a reasonably good baseline for a metal sample.

In this regard, chemical analysis by GDS provides a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for analyzing most aluminum, brass, carbon steel, low alloy steel, cast iron, superalloys and stainless steel materials.

Similarly, tensile tests provide useful information on the strength and ductility of the metal, while Brinell and Rockwell hardness tests or microhardness tests are also useful, as they can often be correlated with tensile strength and performed on smaller samples.

However, depending on the application to be carried out on the metal, there may be other properties that are important, such as corrosion resistence, case depth, or microstructure, or plating thickness. So, among others, metallographic tests will also be carried out.

The microstructure of a metal can reveal useful information about material failures, micro-cracks, as well as processes such as heat treatment, forming, forging, extrusion, cold rolling, hot rolling, threading, heading and drawing.

If carbon steel is heated to a bright red color, the microstructure may be altered depending on the rate of cooling. The cooling of carbon steel will generate a hard, brittle structure called martensite, which can be made less brittle by a heat treatment process called tempering.

Ultimately, failure analysis in metallic materials provides a unique advantage in finding the probable cause of a failure. For example, scanning electron microscopy of a fracture surface can be performed to identify its initiation point, as well as the mode of propagation and its velocity. On the other hand, we can also obtain a complete picture of the failure with corrosion testing.

At Infinitia we have extensive experience in materials testing and troubleshooting. If you want our professionals to guarantee the proper functioning of your materials, contact our forensic engineering team to offer you the best solution.