Mid-West Materials Metallurgical....

The Olsen "Cup" Test is a destructive test, which measures the ability and ease of drawing operations with the material. A carbide ball stretches the steel through a fixed die. We use the 7/8" ball up to 16 gauge and a 1" ball from 15 gauge to .229 thickness maximum. The force required and the height of the cup formed is recorded. We classify material performance by the height of the cup for each gauge.

The Bend Test consists of bending a prepared specimen with a punch of known diameter over a roller die. Test coupons are prepared for the longitudinal and transverse directions. The technician reports the angle at which the outer bend surface of the sample begins to show signs of cracking. The Tensile, Yield, and Elongation Tests are destructive tests in which a specially machined sample is subjected to pulling forces. The yield point is the maximum stress the material can withstand without a permanent change in its shape. As the steel is stretched beyond this point, the ultimate strength is recorded as the point where it breaks. This data is automatically recorded on a chart and computations of unit strength are computed from measurements of the sample prior to testing. Elongation is a measure of the relative increase in length of a known distance as the material is stretched to its ultimate limit.