Development of 3-Point Flexural Test Fixtures

Abstract

In developing economies, the cost of acquiring laboratory testing equipment and accessories is huge, thereby depriving most of the supposedly advanced laboratories of most of this necessary research equipment. In this study, a 3-point flexural test accessory has been designed and developed for a universal mechanical testing equipment. The 3-piont flexural accessory is an important accessory in mechanical examination for the flexural strength of engineering materials. The computer aided design and modelling as well as the materials selection was done using Pro/engineer and Granta software. The material selected for the development of the components is austenitic stainless steel which is readily available and accessible in Nigerian market The developed flexural test accessory was used on the test equipment to conduct flexural tests on composite samples and the results were found to conform to international standard.

Keywords: Mechanical, Flexural Test, accessory, Equipment, Design and Development