Horizontal Tensile Testers 

The already sophisticated but simple operation can be further developed when the pc based machine control software provided with the machine is upgraded to include data acquisition and data analysis. This upgraded software is scalable and can interact with corporate enterprise software.

Further automation can then be achieved by the addition of a robot and sample racks. In this configuration, the robot will pick a sample from a sample rack and insert it into the machine grips and will then wait for the end of test so that the broken sample pieces can be removed from the grips and placed in a suitable disposal bin.

If a sample measuring station and bar code reader are included with the system, the whole testing process is automated with the only operator requirement being the loading of the samples in the sample rack. Additionally, the system can be programmed so that additional tests, such as a hardness test, can be performed on the specimens prior to performing the tensile test.

The test data that is generated can be included into corporate manufacturing and resource planning software ensuring that quality control data is an integral part of operations and allowing, in a hypothetical example, shipping departments to ship material complete with a quality certificate in real time immediately after the material has been tested.