Background[edit | edit source]
Search Strategy & Terms[edit | edit source]
Key words terms (KWT)
- "Material tester" AND "Open Source" AND "Universal"
- "Material Tester"
- "Open Source" AND "Material Tester"
- "Universal" AND "Material tester"
Strategies
- Searched Google Scholar using KWT1-4
What is Material Testing?[edit | edit source]
Material testing is a process through which a material is put through tests, generally through the application of force in different ways, to test its qualities, including yield strength, elastic and plastic deformation, fracture toughness, etc... Common tests used to discover these properties are compression, tensile, and flexion tests, with more niche tests like torsion being used less frequently. The goal of this testing is to be able to accurately make decisions on material usage for projects by knowing its properties. It is also commonly used during the development of new materials to compare iterations and settle on a final product. Traditionally, these tests are performed using proprietary material testers specific to each type of test. However, there exist devices that can perform multiple tests. These are named universal material testers.
Theoretical Framework[edit | edit source]
Universal material testers generally use swappable heads to secure a standard test specimen for different tests. This allows them to perform tasks that would normally take multiple testers. A high torque motor is used to produce the force required for different types of tests, and is usually used either as a linear actuator or in a rail system. As for the swappable heads, they range from tensile grips using friction to hold samples in place, to compression blocks, or even thin heads for 3-point flexion tests.
Significance and Importance[edit | edit source]
An accurate open source tester would provide a significantly more cost-effective method of testing material properties, opening the door for smaller companies and even students to perform tests. In an ideal scenario, people could tailor the testers they create from documentation to their own needs, creating a much more modular environment that could allow for more breakthroughs in the material testing industry.
Current State of the Art[edit | edit source]
Material testers have evolved to be almost entirely proprietary, even costing hundreds of thousands for higher end models. Even these proprietary models, however, allow for enormous modularity, making them useful for a large variety of different use cases, from the basic pulling and compressing of samples, to being used to mimic wind power or a runner's footsteps. This is usually accomplished using add-ons or with clever programming. An open source model would not only cost significantly less, but also be even more modular than proprietary testers, allowing users to replace more than just the heads or add-ons, and truly customizing the design to their use cases.
Relevant Stakeholders[edit | edit source]
Stakeholders in the open source material testing space include lower budget laboratories. like undergraduate labs at universities, and hobbyists. However, large organizations and material testing labs could easily find use cases for material testers they can easily build and customize, allowing them to perform a much wider variety of tests.
Applicability and Context[edit | edit source]
An open source universal material tester would be widely applicable in the scientific and engineering spaces, including labs and testing facilities, as it provides enormous cost savings compared to industrial models, and a scalable model that can be tailored to a wide variety of applications.
Literature[edit | edit source]
TODO[edit | edit source]
- Create lists and sub-lists of topics that need to be further reviewed.
Open Source Material Testing[edit | edit source]
Paper/Website/Source Title[edit | edit source]
Zotero citation field with the URL (DOI preferred).
- Each top-level point should be a clear and concise key item from the source (methodology, info, design, gap, etc.)
- Sub points are to be concise explanations of critical aspects of the key item
- Should not be a copy and paste of info but rather an interpretation of what parts are relevant and why, selective copy & paste of relevant snippets is fine.
Subtopic 2[edit | edit source]
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Bibliography[edit | edit source]
Insert auto-generated Zotero list
