ELECTRONICS
DESIGNING FOR IMPACT
T
From reinforced structural components to thin battery films, materials in the automotive and electronics sectors face vastly different demands. Yet, both rely on tensile impact testing to characterise material strength, energy absorption and failure behaviour under dynamic loads. Here, Andrea Incardona, material engineer at material testing instrumentation manufacturer Instron, explores how tensile impact testing helps engineers simulate real-world conditions, spot weaknesses before failure and build safer, more reliable products.
oday’s large automotive components, designed to meet growing technical demands such as improved crash energy absorption and reduced vehicle weight, often use hybrid materials like carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) or multilayer structures like aluminium-plastic composites. These materials often behave
unpredictably under high strain rates, making mechanical characterisation difficult under real- world conditions such as crash events. In contrast,
electronic materials like thin polymer
films, adhesives or ceramics are smaller and demand more precise testing. Even minor cutting defects during specimen preparation or alignment errors during testing can skew results beyond expected tolerances.
Real-world environmental conditions introduce additional variables during material characterisation testing. Dashboards and phone casings, for example, experience thermal swings from intense summer heat to freezing winter mornings. These fluctuations affect material properties and must be accounted for. Test setup is critical. Some plastics deform gradually under stress, while others fail suddenly. Gripping methods, specimen geometry and impact velocities must reflect real-world conditions. A test that doe not simulate field conditions may miss critical weaknesses.
WHY TENSILE IMPACT TESTS MATTER
Tensile impact testing evaluates how materials behave under sudden loads, guiding material choice and product design. In automotive crashes, crumple zones must absorb energy without cracking. In electronics, battery components, films and battery components must withstand impact, heat and dynamic stress without losing integrity.
Often, a material’s failure mode matters as much as its strength. Car interior components might be needed to shatter into small, non-lethal fragments for safety. In consumer electronics, repeated drop testing helps predict performance and lifespan under real-world conditions. Testing procedures also differ by sector. Automotive materials typically use dog-bone shaped specimens, suited to
12 Summer 2025 UKManufacturing
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