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Hounsfield/Tinius Olsen on Test at Science Museum

Hounsfield /Tinius Olsen, which recently launched a new range of machine for materials testing at forces of up to 2000kN, is now demonstrating its measurement prowess at the lower end of the spectrum in a new exhibit at the Science Museum in London. The company has provided an H1 KS to the Museum to measure the strength of silk spun by spiders to make their webs.

The exhibit, entitled "Spiders’ Silk" will run for nine months from May 1, 2003 and is intended to show visitors the incredible versatility of this natural material. Although a strand of dragline spider’s silk may measure only microns across, it is six times stronger than the equivalent weight of steel. "We wanted to demonstrate this point in an interesting manner," says the Museum’s Mike Cronkshaw. "The Hounsfield machine with its display screen read out, is the ideal way to show just how strong the silk can be."

Delivery of the Hounsfield machine was undertaken by Hounsfield’s UK sales manager Steve Taylor who says the company is used to testing different materials, but this was his first delivery for testing spider’s silk. "We like to work closely with our customers but thankfully the Golden Orb spiders on display (which can grow as large as a man’s hand) are safely contained in a separate cabinet," says Steve.