Design and development of a miniaturised tensile testing machine

The tensile properties of materials, such as the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and elastic modulus, are very important factors for engineering designs. However, it is not easy for students to understand and evaluate the tensile properties of materials. In this study, a small and handy tensile testing machine was designed to help students conduct tensile tests in class using a miniature tensile specimen. The tensile testing machine consists of a stepping motor as an actuator, a load-cell, a load-cell amplifier, a data acquisition system and the testing machine frame. The detected load signal is amplified by the amplifier and is sent to the data acquisition (DAQ) system. The DAQ system with LabVIEW software receives the signals from the load-cell and displacement gauge. Using this testing machine, it is possible to conduct tensile tests on miniature tensile specimens at speeds of 0.001~1.0 mm/s.