Recent advances in hardware and software provide materials testers with improved productivity and enhanced capabilities. This article describes some innovations in testing composites and aluminum alloy formability and new capabilities in digital image correlation and testing machine software.

Coating development using cold gas spray technology demonstrates the feasibility of bonding polymers to metal substrates and metals to polymer composite substrates with good adhesion. The examples addressed are polyetheretherketone (PEEK) coatings on steel and aluminum substrates and metallic coatings on carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites.

Systems integration expertise is valuable for innovative high-temperature testing because it reduces data variability and allows for fewer tests in order to achieve accurate results. Grips, extensometers, furnaces, and environmental chambers are potential sources of experimental error. Variability that arises from these components tends to be systemic, so solving an issue with one tends to raise issues with another.

This article presents examples of engineered parts where PEEK (polyether ether ketone) thermoplastics have replaced traditional materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, and glass.

Laser sintering and numerical modeling play a major role in the development of a PEEK polymer surgical implant optimized for patient-specific cranial reconstruction.