A prominent spring manufacturer on the U.S. west coast required a high capacity spring load testing machine for installation at their new manufacturing facility. The customer wanted to use this machine to 100% test certain spring types. Their specifications required a high degree of accuracy, fast throughput, and robust safety features.
Building from our experience in design and manufacture of spring testing systems, Inston worked closely with the customer, both prior to and after receiving the purchase order, on the conceptual and final design for the test system. The result was a highly customized SATEC Series KN Model test system with the following features:
- Compression-only loads up to 70,000 lbf (311 kN / 31,100 kgf)
- 4 column, fixed crosshead design for high stiffness, even during off-center loading
- 3-load cell nest for maximum accuracy, even during off-center loading
- Thirty (30) inch stroke actuator to easily accommodate a variety of spring sizes
- Actuator mounted below the test space to accommodate a safety mandrel through the center of the spring during testing
- A heavy duty guard with easy-to-operate, side-sliding guard
- High flow hydraulic power supply for actuator speeds up to 150 in/min (3810 mm/min) from 0 to 20,000 lbf (89 kN / 8,900 kgf) and 60 in/min (1524 mm/min) from 20,000 lbf to full machine capacity
- Partner Spring Testing Software for machine control, data acquisition, and result storage
To ensure a smooth installation, IPG engineers were on-site at the new facility to supervise the uncrating, placement, and hook-up of the machine. The customer was up and running immediately by transferring their existing Partner test procedures to the new system.