FAQs

The PLX-Benchtop is provided with a larger 1 mm radius tip and a smaller 0.5 mm radius tip. Indents carried out with the CORSICA control software are controlled to penetrate to about 10% - 20% of the radius, i.e. depths of about 100 - 200 μm and 50 - 100μm, respectively. The strains that result from such indents will reach peak values between 30 - 60%. For the larger 1 mm radius indent, the lateral extent of an indent crater created in this way is a little under 1.5 mm. The resulting strain field extends around 5 mm laterally and penetrates to a depth of about 1 mm. For the 0.5 mm radius, these values are all halved.

Porosity introduces many issues in terms of assessing bulk properties using PIP. The FE modelling that is being used assumes fully dense materials with no porosity. The user should not use PIP for materials that have porosity levels higher than 1%. Another note to make with porosity is the scale. Fine scale porosity should not pose a problem (so long as the porosity level is less than 1%). Large pores however may cause problems, leading to point-to-point variation, depending on whether the indent happened to be carried out in the proximity of a large pore. For materials with porosity levels greater than 0.5%, it is also advised that some effort is made to characterise the scale of the porosity. More information is provided in the user manual.

Sheet thinner than 1.5 mm cannot currently be tested due to the assumptions made in the modelling that the sample is infinite in dimensions. It is preferable for thin sheet samples to not be mounted - contact Plastometrex at support@plastometrex.com for more information.

The PLX-Benchtop is an indenter, with an integrated profilometer. Indents up to 8 kN in load and around 200 μm in depth are created and the residual profile scanned. This is automated by the CORSICA control software, which will infer plasticity characteristics of the sample using the PIP methodology.

Our labs and offices are based in the historic city of Cambridge, UK. If you would like to arrange a visit please get in touch with our sales team.

The primary output of a PIP test is a stress-strain curve (in both true and nominal form). Secondary outputs include Yield Strength, Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), a Brinell hardness number, the load-displacement plot, the residual profile shape of the indent, and a semi-quantitative indication of the degree of anisotropy in the material.

PIP stands for "Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry", catchy, eh? PIP is a novel method that extracts bulk stress-strain curves (in both true and nominal form) from indentation test data. The method uses an inverse finite element method to do this.. Check out our What is PIP article to learn more about this.

The surface to be indented must be reasonably flat and horizontal. However, a high polish is not required and indeed polishing as such can be avoided. A ground surface, with a surface roughness of no more than about 5 microns, is fine.

Read more about the surface preparation of samples.

Our benchtop system is capable of extracting stress-strain curves from samples as small as 3 x 3 x 1.5mm in size.

Please contact our sales team who will be able to discuss this option with you.

The test is currently designed for metallic materials, the method is accurate for all of the most common engineering metals. The test is not suitable for ceramics or polymers at this time. If you have a specific requirement please get in touch.

Certainly not. Whilst PIP does use an inverse finite element method to measure stress-strain curves, the user does not require any third party software packages nor any knowledge of modelling and simulation to carry out a PIP test. The inverse finite element procedure is carried out automatically via our proprietary software package CORSICA, which is provided alongside every machine.