What mechanical testing tells you
A drawing or mill certificate states what a part should do. Mechanical testing proves what it does. By loading specimens until they yield, deform or break, we measure the properties your design depends on — and catch material that only looks right on paper.
- Strength — tensile strength, yield strength and proof stress show the load a material carries before permanent deformation or failure.
- Ductility — elongation, bend and rebend tests show whether a material bends before it breaks, which is critical for reinforcement steel and safety parts.
- Toughness — Charpy impact energy shows resistance to sudden shock, and how it changes at low temperature.
- Hardness — a fast, near non-destructive check of heat treatment and wear resistance. See our hardness testing page for methods and scales.
Tensile, yield and proof load testing
Our universal testing machine runs tensile tests on bars, plates, wires, fasteners and machined specimens, reporting ultimate tensile strength, yield or 0.2% proof stress, elongation and reduction of area. Proof load and load tests confirm that finished components such as bolts and fittings carry their rated load without permanent set. Grips and fixtures are selected to the specimen geometry and the applicable standard.
Impact testing — ambient and sub-zero
Charpy impact testing measures the energy absorbed when a notched specimen is broken by a pendulum. Because many steels turn brittle in the cold, we test at ambient and sub-zero temperatures to validate toughness for the real service conditions of structural, pressure and automotive parts.
Weld and fabrication tests
For welding procedure and welder qualification we combine tensile, bend, fillet weld fracture and hardness tests with metallography of the weld cross-section and heat-affected zone, to ASME, AWS, ASTM and EN requirements. Our metallurgical testing team interprets failures in the context of microstructure.
Construction steel
TMT bars and structural steel are tested for tensile properties, elongation and bend/rebend behaviour. See TMT steel bar testing for the full rebar programme.
Reporting
Each certified report lists specimen details, the test method and standard, the measured values with units and, where you supply a specification, a clear statement of conformity. Raw data and photographs are available for audits on request.
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