Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH uses a ZwickRoell materials testing machine for tensile tests on high-performance materials developed in-house

There is a constant demand for innovative and bespoke materials to cater for the rapid developments in the socially important areas of mobility, energy, infrastructure, medicine and safety. To achieve advances in these areas the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH (MPIE, Max Planck Institute for Iron Research) carries out basic research on high-performance materials, particularly metallic alloys and related materials, using devices including a ZwickRoell materials testing machine.

The MPIE develops materials with outstanding properties with regard to strength, strain and damage tolerance. Tensile loading of these high-performance materials provides key characteristic values for the development and optimization of new materials. Among the equipment used to determine these characteristic values the MPIE relies on a ZwickRoell high-temperature universal testing machine.

The Z250 SE AllroundLine testing machine is used for tensile tests according to ISO 6892 on high-temperature materials developed and produced in-house at room temperature and at high temperatures up to 1200 °C. The testing machine is equipped with a high-temperature furnace, a non-contact extensometer and a safety device and ensures precise, repeatable, reproducible and traceable test results combined with simple, efficient operation.

Reliable calibration of the entire measurement chain allows the combination of a three-zone high-temperature furnace, thermocouples and a temperature controller to deliver accurate, standard-compliant temperatures on the specimen. The high-temperature furnace can easily be swung right out, allowing room-temperature tests to be performed using the same testing machine. To ensure protection for the operator from specimen splinters during room-temperature tensile tests, the testing machine is equipped with a safety device and electrically interlocked drive.

Specimen clamping in the testing machine is by means of short-clamping hydraulic grips with a nominal force of 250 kN. For strain measurement during tensile tests on round and flat specimens the MPIE uses ZwickRoell's non-contact laserXtens 2-120 HP/TZ. As well as longitudinal strain, this optical measuring system allows transverse strain to be measured at room temperature with no need for additional specimen marking.