Materials Testing

A NETWORK OF MATERIALS TESTING LABORATORIES

Applus+ has a network of materials testing laboratories spread across Europe, China and the United States. These laboratories offer advanced characterisation testing in order to assess the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of materials as well as the quality control of materials and processes.

MATERIALS EXPERTS FOR DIVERSE INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

Our expertise in this field means that we can play a role in the whole product life cycle, including the development, manufacturing and in-service phases. We work with wide-ranging industries including aerospace, automotive, rail, maritime, 3D printing, oil and gas, construction, machinery and electrical and electronic products. We are experts in testing a multitude of materials, including the following:

Metallic materials, welded joints, dissimilar metals and superalloys (titanium, aluminium, duplex, superduplex, inconel, etc.)
Composite materials (carbon-fibre and glass-fibre) and composite materials with fasteners
Polimeric materials: thermosets, thermoplastics, resins and rubbers
Coatings, galvanised materials, paints and varnishes
Construction materials and products

ACCREDITED LABORATORIES

Applus+ has a network of ISO 17025-accredited materials laboratories, offering a wide scope of accredited mechanical, physical and thermal tests. (You can access the full list of accreditations here.)

We specialise in high-complexity tests (R curve, G1c, crack growth, high load coupons testing, etc.) for materials characterisation requiring high levels of technical know-how in terms of both executing the tests and interpreting the results.

NADCAP ACCREDITATION AND CLIENT APPROVALS FOR TESTING OF AEROSPACE MATERIALS

Our materials laboratories have also been accredited by Nadcap and approved by the primary aerospace manufacturers. These recognitions mean that we can work directly for these manufacturers as well as for their suppliers.

Accredited by Nadcap for the testing of metallic and non-metallic materials, non-destructive testing, panel manufacture, sample manufacture and sample machining
Recognised by the Airbus group
Recognised by Safran
Recognised by Honeywell
Recognised by Comac
Recognised by Embraer

MATERIALS TESTING CAPABILITIES

Our testing capabilities include:

Manufacture and preparation of test samples
Static and dynamic mechanical tests (at temperatures ranging from -196º to +1200ºC)
Metallographic and fractographic analysis
Hardness tests (Shore, Vickers, Rockwell, Brinell)
Chemical analysis (OES and XRF)
Physical and thermal tests (DSC, DMA, TGA, FV, etc.)
Non-destructive tests
Corrosion and ageing tests

A COMPREHENSIVE MATERIALS TESTING SERVICE

Support in the development and engineering phases:

Materials characterisation
Development of test plans
Qualification of materials and products

Production and process quality control:

Incoming inspection and extension of lifespan
Process quality control
Release tests
First part qualification (FPQ)
Witness tests to qualify production processes
Automatic and manual NDT inspections of components

On-site testing:

NDT: UT, PAUT, VT, PT, MT, ET, etc.
Hardness and metallographic tests (replicas)
Spectrometry for positive material identification (PMI)

Failure analysis:

On-site sample inspection and collection
Detailed case studies (manufacture, installation, certification, operation, maintenance, repair, etc.)
Analysis of samples and reproduction of failures in controlled laboratory conditions

FROM COUPONS TO FULL SCALE

Applus+ Laboratories boasts a network of structural testing laboratories for testing the real behaviour of materials at a range of levels: from the materials characterisation of small test samples or coupons through to the mechanical testing of complete aircraft, components and subcomponents with a view to assessing their structural resistance.

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