Max load: 120 kN
Max speed: 35 m/s
High speed
Compression
Tension
Impact
Plastics
Metals
Composites
Max load: 120 kN
Max speed: 35 m/s
High speed
Compression
Tension
Impact
Plastics
Metals
Composites
STEP Lab high-strain-rate systems are designed to carry out tensile and compression tests with great flexibility, thanks to their high speed – up to 35 m/s – and the wide range of forces available, from a few Newtons to 120 kN. Furthermore, a climatic chamber can be added to test materials at different temperatures.
Offering excellent performance, our systems simulate extreme conditions on metals, plastics and composites, ensuring compliance with international standards such as ASTM D3763, ASTM D638-5 and ISO 8256-2.
Features
Applications
Standards
A dedicated system has been developed to carry out high strain rate testing on the HUD and XUD series. It comprises special grips with a play adapter, which is required to reach the test speed prior to impact with the specimen. Compatible with specimens in accordance with ISO 8256.
The drop tower is the most flexible solution for impact testing, of which high strain rate testing is just one of the possible applications.
The STEP Lab rotary machine is specifically designed for testing at the highest speeds. The inertia of the flywheel allows the speed to be maintained at a virtually constant level throughout the entire impact, a decisive advantage for test repeatability. The system incorporates a piezoelectric load cell directly into the specimen holder and features data acquisition at up to 3.5 MHz, enabling even the fastest events to be captured with precision.
Zero maintenance
High reliability
High efficiency
Wide range of use
Simple installation
In all three solutions, the load is measured using a piezoelectric load cell. However, deformation cannot be measured using a conventional extensometer at the speeds involved; for this reason, high-speed imaging is used in combination with DIC (Digital Image Correlation) analysis.
The point of impact on the test specimen must be well lit (using dedicated LED lights) to ensure good image quality and, consequently, the quality of the analysis.
During the test, two data streams are acquired in parallel, synchronised via the test controller: the load signal and the high-speed video. The video is converted into individual frames for DIC analysis, which tracks a point (subset) in the image and follows it throughout the entire sequence, deriving strain data (true or engineering strain) for each point on the specimen. By combining load and strain, the material’s stress-strain curve is plotted at the selected test speed.
Drop Tower – DW2000
High-speed camera – Photron NOVA
What is high-speed deformation testing?
High-speed deformation testing involves applying a very rapid load to a material or component, compressing or stretching it in milliseconds rather than seconds, to simulate extreme events such as road accidents, explosions or ballistic impacts. It enables us to measure how materials behave differently at high speed compared to a slow, quasi-static load.
Why are high strain rate tests carried out?
High-strain-rate tests replicate real-world impact events where deformation occurs in milliseconds, such as car crashes, explosions or ballistic impacts. Without these tests, designers would only have data from low-strain-rate loads and would be unable to accurately predict how the material would behave in real-world hazard scenarios, running the risk of underestimating damage or overestimating protection.
Why do materials behave differently at high strain rates?
At high strain rates, materials often become stiffer and stronger, but also more brittle, absorbing less energy before failure than the same material under slow loading. This strain-rate-dependent behaviour is crucial for safety-critical applications, such as impact protection in vehicles, armour and protective equipment, where data from materials under slow loading alone would provide misleading predictions.
What is the difference between high-strain-rate testing and normal-speed (quasi-static) testing?
A quasi-static test applies the load slowly (over seconds or minutes) and measures the material’s strength and elongation at break under ideal conditions. A high-strain-rate test applies the same load in milliseconds, and the material behaves differently: it often becomes stiffer and stronger but also more brittle, absorbing less energy before breaking. Ignoring this difference would lead to incorrect predictions in safety designs.
In which applications are high-speed deformation tests used?
High-speed deformation tests are used in the simulation of road traffic accidents, in impact analysis within the aerospace sector, in the certification of protective equipment (helmets, bulletproof vests), in the development of protection against explosions and projectiles, in the design of sports equipment, and in materials research for applications where impacts or explosive loads pose a real risk.
