Fatigue test engineering and evaluation
Fatigue performance is critical to safety in many systems. Experimental evaluation of component fatigue performance validates life-prediction calculations and supports operational certification.
Hill Engineering provides in-house, full-service fatigue testing, including engineering and laboratory capabilities, and specializes in tests on full-scale parts, mock-ups, and non-standard coupons.
Our qualified engineering staff can support all aspects of fatigue test programs including sample, fixture, and test method design, load-level determination, data analysis, and forensic evaluation.
Our laboratory technicians are experienced in standard and non-standard fatigue test programs. For non-standard programs, we exploit our experience in dynamic calibration to ensure useful test results for complex parts. This calibration typically combines strain-gage instrumentation and finite element analysis for accurate cyclic stress at critical locations.
Our laboratory capability includes equipment to simulate in-service damage (corrosion, salt fog, tool damage, and FOD). Microscopy is used for documentation and failure analysis.
Specialties:
- Full-scale parts and complex coupon geometries
- Finite element based load-stress calibration
- Surface treated and/or residual stress bearing parts
- High load level testing
Capabilities:
- In-house analysis and design (e.g., ABAQUS,
SolidWorks)
- Dynamic calibration of test articles
- Simulated damage of test articles
- Salt fog corrosion
- Chemical inter-granular corrosion
- Electric discharge machining (sharp notches)
- Salt fog corrosion
- Standard axial and bending test fixtures
- Load and displacement control
Equipment:
- Two 55,000 lbf servo-hydraulic load frames
- One 10,000 lbf servo-hydraulic load frame
- Wedge grips for axial testing
- Flat coupons to 4.0” wide and 1.5” thick
- Round coupons to 1.5” diameter
- Flat coupons to 4.0” wide and 1.5” thick
- Three and four-point bend fixtures
- Many custom fixtures to meet customer special needs