Flexural Bend Fixtures

Even though we offer the widest range of flexural bend fixtures in the mechanical testing industry, we still on occasion need to accommodate a specific need with a tailored design.

There are almost 50 different bend and flexure test standards and each one allows for multiple test specimens. With over 60 designs, we offer the widest range of flexural bend fixtures in the mechanical testing industry and when necessary we design fixtures for specific application.

Establishing Test Fixture Requirements

In order to configure the best fixture for your application there are several considerations. First, what tests do you want to run? Will you be testing to one or more industry standards? Will you be testing to an internal standard?

Just because you are testing to more than one standard does not mean you need multiple fixtures. Most of our fixture designs are adjustable which allows one fixture to test to multiple industry standards (ASTM, ISO, etc). So with some planning, you can save money and end up with a multiple application bend fixture.

If you plan to test more than one standard or products you may want to consider one of our modular fixture designs. A modular bend test fixture allows you to replace several single purpose fixtures with one.

The process of serving your flexure bend fixture needs begins with some questions that need to be addressed:

• Are your tests based on one or more industry standards? Note there are almost fifty different bend and flexure test standards and each one is satisfied by a unique different bend fixture.
• Will you be testing to an industry standard? Otherwise, your test procedure may be an internal standard. It helps us to know as much as possible to establish an optimal solution.
• Do you know your specimen geometry requirements? The sample geometry is commonly defined in the test standard. Sometimes more than one sample is defined… How many do you plan to use? To make the process easier it helps to establish the largest and smallest of all three dimensions (LxDxT). This provides the overall size and an indication of the load requirements of the fixture.
• What is the make and manufacturer of your test machine? Our desire is to ensure flawless integration of the test fixtures with your existing machine. We have a wide range of test machine adapters – for virtually any type of test machine.
• Are there future plans that impact the use of your fixture? With a modular design, we can build fixtures that can be configured for three, four or five point fixtures now – or you can purchase additional modules to convert from one to the other as your requirements grow. That’s your choice.
• Whenever you are adding new bend test fixture to a machine it is good practice to evaluate the load cell force rating on your machine. A load cell that is right for a tensile test may be way oversized for bending a comparable specimen.
• Call us if you encounter challenges.

Fixture Application Specialists

Our fixtures application engineers are a resource for you to develop your overall strategy and approach to upgrading your machine for new bend testing applications. This includes adding test fixtures, grips, extensometers and deflectometers, environmental chambers and saline baths.

Our fixture engineers also help you consider different strategies to go beyond test specifications to more accurately replicate real world use of your product. Sometimes testing according to industry standards is overkill and other times it is inadequate.

Fixture selection for bend and flexure testing can present a lot of choices and so our application specialist can save you a lot of time.