MFS - Modular Force Stage

Mechanical sample characterisation with temperature and environmental control modules

Understanding the micro- and thermo- mechanical properties of materials is increasingly important. Existing materials are being deployed in new environments and exotic new materials are being developed to meet ever higher demands.

Advanced materials such as carbon fibre and graphene are becoming materials of choice for high-end applications such as bike frames, cars, surgical implants and aircraft wings. New materials are being developed to replace or support human body parts such as artificial hips and artificial corneas. While these new materials have many unique and exciting properties, allowing engineers to design and make things that were not possible previously, It is still vital that the physical properties of these materials are characterized and any failure modes well understood.

The Modular Force Stage (MFS) is a modular system designed to characterise the mechanical properties of your samples. The system is a new and improved version of the popular TST350 tensile stage with increased sensitivity, resolution and a modular concept. The modular design allows users to have an additional level of control over their experiments with the ability to change grips, heater type and force ranges. The additional options will accommodate a wide range of different samples and applications and be able to test tension, compression and multi-point bending.

The MFS can be used with reflected or transmitted illumination as well as other techniques such as X-ray, Raman and FTIR. Its sample chamber is sealed and can be gas purged via the built in valves. There are also options for humidity control and electrical contact posts.

MFS on Imaging station, with a sample under tension across the 350°C heater block.

Features

• Compression and Tensile Force: Test the compressive and tensile properties of your sample relative to temperature and capture high resolution images of the structural changes.

• Multi-point bending measurements

• Wide range of control parameters: Speed of jaws, distance moved and the force applied can be varied relative to temperature.

• Interchangeable Heaters & Grips: The temperature can be controlled from <–195°C up to 600°C depending on heater attached. Heaters and grips can be changed to accommodate a wide range of sample types.

• Electrical connections: Optional electrical connections enable electrical measurement on the sample during tensile testing.

• Humidity: Add the RHGen humidity unit to your system to accurately control the relative humidity around your samples.

• Encoded Distance Measurement: Built in high resolution encoder ensures precise measurement of changes in length.

Graphical Data

Analyse the mechanical properties of your samples with LINK software. Combine it with the LINK imaging module to visualise samples throughout your experiment.

Real-time graphs are displayed as the experiment is run. You can visualise your data in both temperature-time and force–extension graphs.