Standard and bespoke testing of advanced materials
Our new, state-of-the-art Mechanical Test Facility (MTF) confirms NPL as the UK’s centre of excellence for materials assurance. The MTF is furnished with a comprehensive range of world-class mechanical test equipment from NPL’s partner Instron, to allow us to address the current, emerging and future requirements of research and industrial application.
This facility, combined with NPL’s extensive expertise in materials characterisation and assurance, provides a unique capability for research and commercial testing services covering a broad range of advanced materials such as composites, metals, ceramics, additive manufacturing and coatings.
We offer traceability to national standards and extremely accurate measurements over a wide range of loads and conditions. Our expertise in uncertainty measurement ensures industry can have confidence in our test results.
Underpinning virtual testing
Digitalisation of the MTF ensures that NPL is at the forefront of materials data analytics and uncertainty analysis that can support virtual product assurance, enable variable fidelity simulation and innovative analysis processes. This digitalisation of the laboratory supports Industry 4.0 through the development of cyber-physical platforms to reduce the number of physical test iterations for materials assurance.
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Comprehensive test capabilities
How materials perform is critical to the success of new and updated products. Industry needs to be sure that new materials will function in the way they expect and that any traditional materials used in new ways will not fail in service, even in extreme conditions.
NPL experts work with a comprehensive suite of mechanical tests, non-destructive evaluation, thermal analysis and modelling techniques to help clarify requirements, interpret results and solve problems for customers. Through this, we provide customers with detailed, independent analysis to accelerate development, increase both the performance and quality of products and identify the root cause for any failures in materials, products or structures.
As the UK's National Measurement Institute, you can be sure that everything we deliver will be trustworthy and impartial. We give businesses the increased confidence they need when evaluating and predicting the performance of their materials through the full life cycle.
Find out more about our testing capabilities