SMT&I takes on the heavy fastener testing jobs with 75,000-pound fatigue frame

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA—June 15, 2006

The special stresses of flight require greater capacity from a load testing program. SMT&I recently expanded its capabilities with an upgraded 100 kip fatigue frame that will test fasteners as large as 1.5 inches with up to 75,000 pounds of load.

"Stork Materials Testing & Inspection in Huntington Beach has been a fastener testing leader in the country for years, but our customers were asking for more. This new machine and its computer controllers makes us the only commercial laboratory on the West Coast that can test this high," says Jim Riley, the location's General Manager.

The MTS-brand equipment conducts a fluctuating high load/low load program on fasteners, cycling between a 75,000 and a 7,500 pound load many thousands of times to measure performance and durability. The machine is dedicated to fastener testing—almost exclusively bolts made of higher-strength metals and alloys—for the aviation and aerospace industries, both military and commercial. "The fatigue frame simulates stresses the parts will be subjected to when in use," adds Riley. "It's usually used as a qualification or conformance test for manufacturing parts. Having this expanded capability in the Southern California region will be a significant benefit for our clients."

In addition to this extreme aerospace load testing, SMT&I conducts fatigue tests on fasteners for all industries and functions. For more information about these services, read about fastener testing here, or contact info.smti@stork.com.