Amphenol, a global interconnect specialist, designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance interconnect systems. The key markets of the company include military and aerospace, which require the ultimate quality and reliability for safety-critical and harsh environment applications.
Amphenol already employed Mecmesin products, but the load capacity of the company’s in-house equipment was such that components with pull-off forces higher than 5 kN had to be sub-contracted out for testing. The company was looking for a tensometer system capable of measuring higher loads so that it can perform the tensile strength testing of larger contacts in-house at its UK site.
The Solution
Mecmesin provided Amphenol with a 50 kN rated capacity twin column universal testing machine, featuring three interchangeable loadcells that were matched to the expected peak forces in a range of Amphenol’s connector product lines. Measurement accuracy is optimized where the recorded value is near the full-scale capacity of the loadcell.
MIL-DTL-22520 and DEF-STAN 59-71 are the main test standards followed, where crimp samples are tested to destruction, either for calibrating the manufacturing crimp tools, or to collect data for the development of new connector product ranges. Appropriate gripping is required to securely hold the joint and allow the crimped contact to be easily pulled from the cable.
The MultiTest 50-xt UTM is operated via a clear and user-friendly touch screen interface, with software control in order to perform the test procedure with reproducibility and repeatability. The motorized test stand ensures that constant speed can be applied, according to the MIL standard. The modern, intuitive, programming ability enables performing calculations on the test data, to provide essential data regarding the connector performance.
The screen also clearly and instantly displays the force profile graphs, providing valuable insight into the failure modes and behavior of the crimp. Investment in the capability to perform high force tensile strength testing of crimp joints internally has allowed Amphenol to lower costs and improve testing turnaround, further demonstrating Amphenol’s commitment to engineering and service excellence.
Download the Tensile Testing eBook
The System
- MultiTest 50-xt (Superseded by the OmniTest Touch 50 universal testing machine)
- 200 N ILC-S, 2500 N ILC-s and 50 kN ILCP loadcells
- Emperor-xt software with Advanced Program Builder (ABO) option
Testimonial
Purchase of the MultiTest 50-xt has allowed us to extend the range of products we can test in-house and obtain more information about the failure mode of the samples.
Erica Moore, Test and EHS Manager, Amphenol
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Mecmesin.
For more information on this source, please visit Mecmesin.