Shear Testing

Shear testing for plastics, polymers and composites with valuable data attained for quality control and comparisons of material

Shear tests are used to determine such attributes as shear strain, shear stress and shear modulus, report the stress, strain, modulus and failure mode (if applicable), as awareness of the ‘deformable’ mechanical properties of plastics, composites and other samples is essential.

Shear strength results are important to designers of a wide variety of materials: adhesives, plastics, film and sheet products that tend to be subjected to various ‘shear loads’, or in applications where factors such as crushing loads are a risk, and is one of the key values used in FE analysis, used by aerospace, transportation, defence and material manufacturers. Shear testing can be used for both comparative testing and FE analysis of new materials.

Different materials – such as homopolymers, composites and polypropylene-based types – will behave differently in shear tests, within which the in-plane shear properties also play an important role. As samples will vary, stress state in the specimen can be complex, and at times unpredictable results may occur.

In some instances, physical properties of materials can vary depending on ambient temperature, and so it is appropriate to test materials at temperatures that simulate the intended end use environment.

Intertek provides a wide range of shear test methods such as D5379 and D7078, suitable for a wide variety of samples, materials and environments. Our experts typically examine distributions of shear strains - up to 5% due to retaining integrity of shear data - and strain states (triaxiality) which may be examined by ASTM test fixtures.

We perform testing upon adhesives for bonded metals, film and sheet products, continuous fibre reinforced plastics and composites to specific standards as listed below, with the ability to utilize up to eight strain gages at once.

Contact our expert staff to discuss your needs, and to progress development of your product.

Shear Testing provided by our experts