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ZwickRoell Helps Chinese Titanium Manufacturer WST Meet High Customer Demands

Western Superconducting Technologies Co., Ltd. (WST) in Xi’an, China is a leading producer of titanium alloy products in the form of ingots, billets, forgings, bars, rods and wires. WST aims to expand their production capacity in order to meet the high demands of their clients. Due to this increase in production, WST chose to install a ZwickRoell Kappa 100 DS creep testing machine and a universal testing machine with a three-furnace carousel for higher specimen throughput.

Excellent properties of titanium alloy propel global demand

Titanium is lightweight, high-strength, heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant and biocompatible. Because of its excellent mechanical properties, it is widely used in the aerospace, medical and automotive industries.

Advanced technology and equipment have positive impact on the development of WST

Founded in 2003, WST is currently running one of the largest research and development centers for titanium and its related materials in China. WST puts great emphasis not only on talented employees but also on advanced technologies and equipment.

Expanding production capacities require higher specimen throughput

With the new AllroundLine testing machine Z100 TEW, WST is performing tensile tests on titanium alloys according to ASTM E 21. The highlight of this system is the high specimen throughput due to the sophisticated furnace carousel with three separate furnace stations developed by ZwickRoell in Fürstenfeld. Although the carousel is only equipped with two furnaces, WST is now testing twelve specimens per day in a temperature range of 200 up to 1,200°C. The specimens can conveniently be prepared, loaded and preheated outside of the test area. After rotating the carousel, the prepared specimens can be placed in the test area without effort. Each furnace is individually controlled by an automated temperature controller, which ensures reproducible, traceable and user-independent temperatures. The non-contact extensometer laserXtens HP/TZ achieves a resolution of 0.11 µm without marking or touching the specimen. The optimum quality of the measurement signal is ensured due to an optical tunnel, which keeps away negative effects from air currents around the furnace.

ZwickRoell testing machines are part of WST’s newly established ISO 17025 test lab

With the ZwickRoell testing systems, the WST laboratory carries out comprehensive tests on its most important products such as titanium alloys and superconducting wires. Besides the ease of use and the reliable strain measurement of the non-contact extensometer even on very small specimens, WST affirms more precise test results with the new ZwickRoell testing systems.

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