Universal testers test the strength of a product, component, or material. This measurement often indicates if an item is functional and safe. Such systems are essential to quality in many industries because they help engineers understand the performance of materials, components, and products under various loading conditions. In other words, this testing provides critical data that enables engineers to make informed decisions during the product development process.
"Universal tension and compression testing machines quantify the behavior and performance of materials, components, and assemblies," says Mark Fridman, president, MARK-10. "By subjecting these samples to push and pull forces with fixtures of specific geometries, tests can be tailored to the particular quality objective. Whether destroying the sample or merely exercising it, the resulting force and distance data can quantify its quality, providing a pass/fail result or force-distance curve that can be compared against expected behavior."