Validation
Validation allows components to be released into the market with confidence. Physical validation is vital for determining whether newly designed products using composite materials meet demanding design and operational performance requirements.
Composites can play an important role in large, high value components and structures because they have high strength, stiffness, good damage tolerance, excellent fatigue properties, as well as resistance to chemical attack and environmental degradation. Composite components promise high performance and are often considered more costly than using conventional material solutions. As a result, for most discerning clients validation of performance is a priority.
Engenuity encourages careful validation of physical components at two levels:
- To confirm manufacturability and ensure conformance with design intent.
- To scrutinise structural performance of the product in a controlled environment, to allow extrapolation of the analytical performance to extremes of the real world operating environment. For this purpose Engenuity has specified and develops bespoke tests to assess structural performance accurately, efficiently and authoritatively, drawing direct comparison with real world parameters.
The validation process takes a number of forms depending on the required level of confidence in the ability of the structure to meet its design parameters.
Engenuity can advise on suitable levels of validation and has extensive experience using modal, stiffness, strength and vibration techniques, strain gauging against sub-critical loads, fatigue, impact and destructive limit testing, proof loading and ‘on occasion’ non-destructive testing using ultrasonic scanning, thermography or laser shearography.