Mechanical Testing Lab
For mechanical property characterization across static, cyclic, dynamic, impact, and time-dependent behavior supporting material selection, material qualification, product development, failure analysis, and engineering simulation.
Start with a short consult to align the loading mode, method family, specimen requirements, and deliverables to your objectives.
- Plastics & Polymers
- Composites
- Elastomers & Foams
- Metals
- Tensile
- Compressive
- Flexural
- Shear
- Fatigue
- Creep
- Stress Relaxation
- Cyclic Loading
- Impact
- High Strain Rate
- DMA
- Bulk/Volumetric
- Miscellaneous Test Methods
- Static, cyclic, dynamic, impact, and time-dependent testing programs
- Method-appropriate fixtures, specimen geometries, and strain or displacement measurement
- Ambient, conditioned, humidity-controlled, subambient, or elevated-temperature programs
- Multi-rate and high-speed testing where required
- Engineering test report (PDF) with digital data delivery
- Method-appropriate outputs such as stress–strain curves, modulus and strength values, cycles to failure, creep and relaxation curves, impact metrics, and viscoelastic response data
- Raw data exports available on request, where applicable
- Exact deliverables depend on the selected method family, specimen configuration, and test conditions
Get Started
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Share your requirements
Tell us about the material, application, environment, and any method, standard, specimen, or conditioning constraints.
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Confirm the approach
We’ll align the appropriate method, specimen requirements, and deliverables to your objectives, then provide a quote and test plan.
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Submit your PO and materials
Send the purchase order and arrange delivery of materials or specimens so the program can move into scheduling and execution.
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Receive your results
You’ll receive an engineering test report with digital data delivery, along with any agreed raw data or method-appropriate outputs.
FAQs
How do I know which mechanical test I need?
Describe the material, loading mode, service environment, likely failure mode, and outputs you need back. We’ll recommend the most appropriate mechanical test family and method path.
Which materials can you support?
Mechanical testing spans plastics and other polymers, composites, elastomers, foams, metals, and other application-specific materials. Suitability depends on the test method, specimen form, and objective.
Can you support conditioning, non-ambient environments, or high-rate programs?
Yes—where applicable, programs can incorporate conditioning, temperature, humidity, static or cyclic loading, and multi-rate or high-speed testing.
Where do I find the method-specific details and standards?
They are presented in the Test Methods section of this page under each mechanical test method category. Click through on the test method of interest for the applicable methods and standards.
What’s included in the report?
You receive an engineering test report (PDF) and digital data deliverables. Exact outputs vary by the selected method and may include curves, calculated properties, life data, or viscoelastic response data. Raw data exports are available on request where applicable.
What turnaround should I expect?
Typical turnaround is five business days for standard testing. Turnaround can vary based on the selected method, conditioning requirements, run length, and test volume.
How do I make sure I get the outputs I need?
Tell us what you need back—properties, curves, cycles-to-failure, raw data, formats, environmental conditions, and any required method or standard. We’ll confirm the appropriate test path and deliverables in the quote before testing begins.
Mechanical Test Methods
Mechanical testing of materials plays a foundational role in evaluating how materials behave under a wide range of mechanical forces. It provides critical data on properties such as strength, stiffness, ductility, toughness, fatigue resistance, and deformation characteristics across multiple modes of deformation—insights that are essential for selecting appropriate materials, optimizing product designs, ensuring structural integrity, and predicting service life. Mechanical tests subject materials to controlled loading conditions representative of real-world applications, from static forces such as tension, compression, and bending to dynamic and time-dependent phenomena such as impact, fatigue, and stress relaxation. Standardized methods ensure accuracy, repeatability, and comparability of results across industries.
From traditional tests such as tensile and compression testing to advanced techniques such as high strain rate analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and volumetric stress-strain characterization, mechanical testing supports material development and application across fields ranging from aerospace and automotive engineering to biomedical devices and consumer products.
Tensile
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Tensile strength, modulus, elongation, yield behavior, stress-strain curves, and failure observations. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, metals. |
| Capability highlights | General tensile testing, including high-speed, composite, elastomer, elevated-temperature metal, open-hole tension, peel, and strain-measurement programs. |
| Common applications | Material qualification, product development, simulation support, design validation, quality control, and failure analysis. |
| Service page | Explore tensile testing |
Compression
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Compressive modulus and strength, yield or ultimate strength, stress-strain curves, compression set, bulk modulus, and unloading response. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, foams, elastomers/rubbers, filled plastics, composites. |
| Capability highlights | General compression testing, including elastomer/foam, lubricated, confined, high-speed, combined-loading compression, and open-hole compression programs. |
| Common applications | Product design, structural evaluation, performance optimization, specification support, and failure analysis. |
| Service page | Explore compression testing |
Flexural
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Flexural modulus, strength, yield/peak/break strain, load-displacement curves, stress-strain curves. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, metals. |
| Capability highlights | General flexural testing, including three-point, four-point, composite, high-speed, and multi-configuration programs. |
| Common applications | Material selection, product design, bending-performance evaluation, quality assurance, failure analysis. |
| Service page | Explore flexural testing |
Shear
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Shear modulus, strength, stress-strain curves, short-beam strength, offset yield, strain at failure. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, structural materials. |
| Capability highlights | Plate twist, punch shear, Iosipescu, rail shear, short-beam, lap shear, ±45° laminate, planar tension programs. |
| Common applications | Shear-load evaluation, composite characterization, material selection, structural safety, failure analysis. |
| Service page | Explore shear testing |
Bulk/Volumetric
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Bulk modulus, specific volume, solid density, volumetric stress-strain curves, compressibility. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, thermosets, elastomers/rubbers, hyperelastic materials. |
| Capability highlights | Bulk modulus and volumetric stress-strain testing, including high-pressure, temperature-pressure matrix, and FEA-input programs. |
| Common applications | Hyperelastic modeling, seal and gasket design, energy absorption, simulation support, confined-environment performance. |
| Service page | Explore bulk/volumetric testing |
High Strain Rate
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | Stress-strain curves, modulus, yield, ultimate properties, strain-rate sensitivity, rate comparisons. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, foams, metals. |
| Capability highlights | High-speed tensile, compression, flexural, foam/elastomer compressibility, and very high-speed tensile programs. |
| Common applications | Impact analysis, crashworthiness, dynamic material modeling, high-speed manufacturing, failure prevention. |
| Service page | Explore high strain rate testing |
Fatigue
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Cycles to failure, S-N curves, E-N curves, load ratios, fatigue life, endurance behavior. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, metals. |
| Capability highlights | Tensile fatigue, flexural fatigue, three-point flexural fatigue, strain-controlled fatigue, S-N and E-N curve programs. |
| Common applications | Durability assessment, fatigue-life prediction, structural integrity, material qualification, failure prevention. |
| Service page | Explore fatigue testing |
Creep
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | Creep strain, time to rupture, creep rate, creep modulus, isochronous stress-strain curves. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, metals. |
| Capability highlights | Tensile, compressive, flexural, humidity-controlled, high-temperature, and creep-rupture programs. |
| Common applications | Long-term performance, material selection, design safety, service-life prediction, sustained-load evaluation. |
| Service page | Explore creep testing |
Stress Relaxation
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | Stress-relaxation curves, residual stress, retention values, relaxation rate, long-term force decay. |
| Materials | Elastomers, rubbers, TPEs, viscoelastic polymers, sealing and force-retention materials. |
| Capability highlights | Short-term tensile/compressive, stepwise relaxation, long-term instrumented compression, temperature-conditioned programs. |
| Common applications | Seals, gaskets, O-rings, force retention, vibration damping, soft polymer performance. |
| Service page | Explore stress relaxation testing |
DMA
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | Storage modulus, loss modulus, tan delta, Tg, mastercurves, shift factors, creep-relaxation response. |
| Materials | Polymers, thermoplastics, composites, elastomers, biomaterials, soft solids. |
| Capability highlights | Tensile/compressive, flexural, torsional DMA; temperature, frequency, and time sweeps; mastercurve and TTS programs. |
| Common applications | Polymer characterization, transition-temperature evaluation, dynamic loading, material development, long-term prediction. |
| Service page | Explore DMA testing |
Cyclic Loading
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | True yield, cyclic stress-strain curves, hysteresis, damage, hardening/softening, repeated load-unload response. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, elastomers/rubbers, metals, alloys, composites. |
| Capability highlights | Plastic-point, hysteresis, cyclic damage, cyclic hardening, stress-strain, and stabilized-response programs. |
| Common applications | Plasticity onset, Mullins effect, damage analysis, damping, energy dissipation, simulation support. |
| Service page | Explore cyclic loading testing |
Impact
| Relevant standards |
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|---|---|
| Key property data | Impact strength, break type, maximum load, failure energy, deflection, load-deflection and energy-time data. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers, metals, alloys, glass, ceramics, packaging materials. |
| Capability highlights | Izod, Charpy, instrumented drop, falling dart, Dynatup, low-speed multiaxial, and multiaxial impact programs. |
| Common applications | Toughness comparison, failure-mode assessment, impact resistance, product durability, packaging evaluation. |
| Service page | Explore impact testing |
Miscellaneous
| Relevant standards |
|
|---|---|
| Key property data | Friction, abrasion, bearing strength, hardness, tear strength, forming limits, wear index, mass loss. |
| Materials | Plastics, polymers, composites, elastomers/rubbers, metals, alloys, films, filaments, wires. |
| Capability highlights | COF, Taber abrasion, filament/wire abrasion, bearing response, durometer hardness, tear strength, forming-limit testing. |
| Common applications | Product development, quality control, failure analysis, friction/wear, elastomer durability, packaging films, sheet-metal forming. |
| Service page | Explore miscellaneous testing |
