The novel 4a- inhouse- developed testing system IMPETUS® enables the mechanical characterization of dynamically loaded test specimens or components. One essential benefit is the much better time and cost efficiency in determining material data compared to the state of art.
- applicable for plastics, composites, foams, aluminum, wood, …
- fast and flexible access to reliable material data
- velocities up to 4.4 mps (single pendulum) and 8 mps (double pendulum)
- different test setups available: bending test, dynamic tensile test, puncture test, compression test (foams), component test
- support distance/clamping conditions customizable without effort
- test specimens loaded under realistic conditions (bending load case is most common in reality)
- specimens are cut out from real parts (easy availability of bending test specimens)
- loading and unloading of test specimens
- automatic evaluation of the tests using software VALIMAT®
- working without additional actuation power
- operating on a common office desk
- including a smart security concept
Single pendulum
The testing procedure can be seen in our YouTube video.
- used for the dynamic bending of plastics and component testing of plastics components or textiles.
- velocities in the range of 0.5 up to 4.4 mps
- energies up to 50 J
- strain rate variation by variation of velocities and/or support distance
- investigation of loading and also unloading case
- test procedure is meanwhile a well-established standard in industry.
The following results can be determined directly:
- Force: using the pendulum mass and the measured deceleration
- Displacement: by measured acceleration or rotary angle
- Velocity: by measured rotary angle
- Energy: based on the evaluated velocity
IMPETUS® - test methods
There are many different test methods available to get the necessary material data in dependence of the complexity of the material card. The characterization pyramid for IMPETUS® should give an idea from the basic characterization up to the final component validation.
Measurement results in dependence of the test type:
click card to flip it
3-point-bending test
standard test (most commonly loading case in reality)
Stats:3-point-bending test
- easy availability of test specimens (typical geometry: 50 x 10 x 2 mm)
- the results as base of the material card are more accurate than using just tensile tests (as most of the plastics show a tension/compression
dependency) - velocity of the pendulum: 1 – 4.4 m/s
- support distance: 30 – 60 mm
Dynamic tension bending test
analogue to the 3-point-bending test (test specimen is clamped)
Stats:Dynamic tension bending test
- used to capture failure in uniaxial behavior
- used to determine the tension/compression-dependency of the material
- easy availability of test specimens (typical geometry: 80 x 10 x 2 mm)
- velocity of the pendulum: 1 – 4.4 m/s
- support distance: 40 – SO mm
Dynamic tensile test
investigations on high-speed tensile behavior
(2,5 – 4 m/s)
Stats:Dynamic tensile test
- measurement DIC based with high-speed camera and Ioad cell
- most typical tensile specimen can be tested (Type3, Z24 etc.)
Compression test
for foams
Stats:Compression test
- change of impact energy by variation of velocities and mass
- test specimen geometry: cube With edge length of 25 mm
- velocity of the pendulum: 1 – 4.4 m/s
Puncture test
loosely based on DIN EN ISO 6603-2
Stats:Puncture test
- biaxial with a triaxiality of 0.66
- test procedure analogue to the free 3-point-bending test
- used to capture failure in biaxial behavior
- typical geometry: 80 x 80 x 2 mm
- velocity of the pendulum: 1 – 44 m/s
- diameter of impactor: 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm or 25 mm
- support distance: 42 mm
Component test
complete components: wire harness, XX-rib, …
Stats:Component test
- 3-point-bending test / compression test
- used for validation of material card
- velocity of the pendulum: 1 – 4.4 m/s
IMPETUS® - measurement technique
- deceleration of the pendulum arm and the rotation angle of the shaft are measured
- very exact determination of dynamic force/displacement-characteristics
- up to 50 samples/mm for brittle materials and natural frequencies of test specimens
- calibration of the system using the angle signal vs. acceleration signal is possible
- plug-in acceleration sensors in a range of 5g up to 400g allow a very quick change of the sensors and consequently an individual measurement range
- a temperature and moisture sensor are included to measure the ambient temperature and humidity during testing
IMPETUS® - accessoires
4a insulation magazine
- for tests at higher or lower temperature than room temperature
- easy handling
- complete test-setup in IMPETUS® (1 velocity with 5 repetitions) can be performed within 2 minutes; that means a difference between first and last test specimen of about 0.6°C
- temperature range from -40°C to +90°C
- storage for 20-25 test specimens (depending on the thickness)
- test specimen geometry: (30 – 120) x (10 or 20) x (1 – 4) mm
- width of the test specimens: 10 or 20 mm
- thickness of the test specimens 1 – 4 mm
Further accessoires
- additional masses for pendulum head (for higher impact energy)
- various impactors (various radii)
- support adjustment for an exact and easy set-up of the support distance
- height adjustment for different test specimen heights for an exact and easy test specimen positioning
- test specimen collector basket to prevent test specimens from leaving the testing area in case of breaking after testing (security feature)