The institute’s ambitious plans are being delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers and industry leaders, who offer high value research, training and consultancy services to a host of international and domestic organizations. As well as offering deep technical expertise, the institute also boasts impressive facilities, ranging from cutting-edge materials characterization equipment all the way to pilot production, including the Normanton Plant melting and casting facility.

In order to support its ambitious plans for growth, the Institute recently invested in an Indentation Plastometer from Plastometrex. The technology is a bench-top testing device that measures stress-strain curves from metals via a 5-minute indentation test. Researchers at the Insititute will be using the Plastometer to characterise the mechanical properties of materials made via additive manufacturing (AM). The Plastometer will allow their researchers to collect vast amounts of mechanical data very quickly, enabling them accelerate both materials and parameter development workflows.

Dr Peter Barnard, Principal Researcher, had this to say: “The Indentation Plastometer offers an exciting and entirely new method for measuring the strength of metallic materials. The Institute is delighted to add the Plastometer to our capabilities, where it will be used extensively by our teams of scientists and engineers to support our industry-led projects.”

The technology will also be used to characterise metallic materials for use in a wide range of applications, with a particular focus on high temperature performance. This will be made possible via the upcoming release of a hot-stage module (HotPIP). The module will enable users to carry out mechanical testing at temperatures up to 800°C with the Indentation Plastometer.

Professor Bill Clyne, Chief Scientific Officer at Plastometrex had this to say about the relationship: “We are delighted to be working with MPI, a pioneering institute built on a long tradition of advanced metallurgy research in the area. We are looking forward to working closely with their leading researchers on the topic of high temperature plasticity and creep.”