SABIC Innovative Plastics' Exatec* offers world-class capabilities
for leading-edge scratch-resistant automotive polycarbonate glazing

SABIC Innovative Plastics' new scratch and abrasion evaluation capabilities - includes new methods and processes - to differentiate, measure, test and prevent surface damage to polycarbonate (PC) glazing for high-performance automotive glazing applications. Exatec underscores SABIC Innovative Plastics' R&D excellence and illustrates how the company's Exatec* glazing technology and analytical tools are helping automotive manufacturers succeed by better understanding and addressing the long-term implications of day-to-day vehicle use. The addition of these new industry-leading testing and assessment capabilities are a testament to SABIC Innovative Plastics' commitment to the global automotive industry to deliver lightweight glazing solutions with superb performance, durability and aesthetics for a clear competitive advantage.

"SABIC Innovative Plastics is completely dedicated to developing the performance of PC glazing to reduce environmental impact, enhance styling and aerodynamics, and reduce weight for greatly enhanced fuel efficiency," said Stephen Shuler, Exatec's chief technology officer. "But to take the power of PC to even greater heights, glazing must be able to deliver long-term abrasion and scratch resistance. Our new R&D capabilities, combined with our extensive Exatec glaze testing and evaluation services and our continued investments in innovation, will help ensure we lead the glazing curve and help our customers move forward with the best technologies on the market today."

New R&D capabilities measures surface quality
Using state-of-the-art instruments for testing and analysis, SABIC Innovative Plastics' dedicated team of engineers and polymer scientists at Exatec evaluate the effects of surface wear on PC glazing using either wet coat or both wet coat and plasma coating technologies. Other testing capabilities include taber abrasion equipment, nano-indentation, optical imaging, surface profilometry, full-scale wiper test stands, and a lab-scale wiper test stand specially instrumented to control speed and pressure as well as test different blade types and debris conditions.

Exatec also conducts long-term road evaluations on its own test vehicles to obtain critical data on the effects of weathering, weekly car washes and rear wiper performance on glazing. By quantifying some of the mechanisms that cause scratches and abrasion, and correlating them to fleet vehicle data and customer experiences, the Exatec team continues to address the needs of its automotive customers.

"We were one of the first to develop PC glazing solutions for automotive manufacturers more than a decade ago, and our innovations, such as our advanced plasma coating technology, continue to lead the industry," Shuler added. "Our new scratch and abrasion evaluation capabilities are yet another example of our commitment to this critically important industry through more advanced analysis and optimisation of PC glazing solutions that meet the specific requirements of global automotive manufacturers."

For further information, view website: www.sabic-ip.com   Refer to page 173

Keighley Laboratories invests in cutting edge technology

Keighley Laboratories, a UK technology leader in the analysis, testing and heat treatment of metals, has invested around £100k in upgrading its laboratory test house, in line with ever more exacting customer requirements. This is part of a wholesale site modernisation process, which will also see the development of new buildings and facilities over the coming months, with a view to positioning the company at the cutting edge of sub-contract heat treatment and metallurgical solutions.

The core of this initial investment phase has seen the installation of new high tech equipment that enables manual to semi-automated metallographic sample preparation, for handling the latest generation of superalloys, and powerful metallurgical microscopes for examining the microstructure of specimens, as well as digital image capture and analysis. This laboratory resource will enable the specialised evaluation of the effect of the latest drilling and machining techniques on high grade components, such as advanced turbine blades used in power plants and jet engines. Other capital investments include a new CNC lathe for manufacturing sample pieces, an X-ray fluorescence analyser, a non-destructive digital ferrite meter, and complete refurbishment of the test house.

Originally established in 1920 and this year celebrating its 90^th anniversary, West Yorkshire-based Keighley Laboratories specialises in the sub-contract heat treatment of metals, including induction hardening, carburising, nitrocarburising, tempering and stress relieving, and metallurgical testing services, covering such disciplines as non-destructive testing, chemical analysis, metallography and problem & failure investigation. It has built successful client partnerships across a broad cross-section of manufacturing industry, such as aerospace, energy, transmission engineering, hydraulics, marine, mining and transportation, and has technical accreditations and approvals to meet the requirements of insurance and inspectorate bodies, industrial primes, including aerospace, and major companies at home and overseas.

"Working for today's technically-demanding industry sectors, we have to deliver excellence and innovation across all of our metallurgical services," says Keighley Labs MD, Debbie Mellor. "That's why we have invested in state-of-the-art test house equipment and, in due course, will be redeveloping our South Street site, paving the way for more advanced surface engineering technologies. This will strengthen our overall capabilities and help cement our relationships with customers across all sectors."

Its metallography service enables examination of the microstructure of metals and alloys, so as to determine characteristics such as grain structure, inclusions, cleanliness and weld quality. With aggressive non-traditional machining techniques now being used on superalloys, such as electrolytic STEM drilling, electrical discharge (EDM), electro-chemical (ECM) and laser machining, Keighley Labs' latest equipment allows observations of re-melt layers, heat-affected zones, intergranular attack, re-hardened layers and other possible irregularities, as part of FAI (first article inspection) and other routine QA checks.

Meticulous surface preparation of samples is essential for revealing details of the microstructure and new, precision cutting, grinding and polishing equipment will ensure exactly that, while automatic mounting presses enable optimum edge retention of specimens. A linear precision machine, with built-in micrometer, will cut virtually any material without sample deformation, allowing the laboratory to isolate a cross-section of a single STEM-drilled hole. A new hot compression, automatic mounting press or vacuum-assisted cold press then embeds samples in phenolic resin, before they are finished down to 0.1µm on a series of electric grinder-polishers, fitted with diamond planing discs or polishing media.

Macro examination to 40x magnification and micro examination to 1000x can then be carried out using advanced Meiji Techno metallurgical microscopes. A new zoom stereo microscope is used for viewing and comparing specimens in three dimensions, as an aid to visual examination; while an inverted metallurgical microscope offers crisp, high resolution images up to 1000x, with a built-in photo port providing for image capture and downloading to a PC. Finally, proprietary software facilitates live measurement functions and online image analysis for reporting purposes.

This state-of-the-art metallographic sample preparation and analysis facility allows Keighley Laboratories to work to the exacting requirements of leading aviation, gas turbine and other companies, its location on the edge of the North West Aerospace Alliance cluster positioning it well to serve the allied industries.

Testing times at Keighley Laboratories' Test House

Engineering-based companies seeking premium quality, independent metallurgical testing, failure investigation, expert witness provision, positive material identification and quality assurance of finished components, need look no further than the long-established Test House at Keighley Laboratories. The UKAS accredited and ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certified testing laboratory offers a comprehensive array of expert facilities, from routine hardness, tensile, compression, impact and fatigue testing to European and American standards, through non-destructive testing (NDT) and inspection procedures applied by highly qualified technicians, to advanced metallographic analysis, employing state-of-the-art stereo binocular microscopes, advanced specimen preparation and digital image capture.
 
The Keighley Labs Test House, which includes a dedicated CNC machine shop for producing test samples, is staffed by around fifteen qualified technicians, trainees and graduates, maintaining formal in-house training procedures and a programme of CPD (continuous professional development) to ensure competency standards are preserved across all disciplines.
 
Its experienced metallurgical consultants are available for failure and fracture investigations, reverse engineering analysis and forensic-type examinations, providing full documentation and, where appropriate, remedial advice for preventing further problems. Unusually, the Test House services also include expert witness work in such areas as personal injury, accidents at work and welded joint failure, these specialised provisions often saving clients the considerable expense of litigation.
 
Independent metallurgical testing is widely employed to demonstrate meeting particular material specifications, as a customer requirement or legal obligation, and to identify why components have failed in service, so it is vital that the chosen test laboratory has the people, facilities and track record for producing valid and accurate data. That is why UKAS accreditation is important for Keighley Labs and its clients, since it demonstrates the technical competence of its personnel and availability of sufficient resources, as well as the impartiality of its advice and knowledge transfer. Indeed, the company regularly updates its comprehensive scope of UKAS accreditation. View website: www.keighleylabs.co.uk/accreditations

The physical and mechanical testing of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys.

 Amongst the key functions of the Test House is the physical and mechanical testing of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys to establish their mechanical properties, employing an impressive array of equipment and techniques. Impact testing, for example, measures the toughness of a material and its resistance to mechanical shock and Keighley Labs employs the two standard methods, Charpy and Izod testing, and has the capacity to prepare and machine test pieces. Hardness is the resistance of materials to permanent indentation and the laboratory offers the main Brinell, Rockwell, Vickers and Knoop microhardness and hardness testing methods, including portable instruments for evaluating in-service parts and samples too large to bring in-house.
 
Tensile and compression loading testing can be carried out in ambient, sub-ambient and elevated temperatures, with loads up to 1100kN; while digital equipment is used to fatigue- test components, employing resonant frequencies between 60Hx and 180Hz. Other mechanical testing techniques include proof loading, bend and fracture tests, and full metallurgical examination of fasteners. In a related sphere, corrosion testing of stainless steel, plated and painted test pieces, heat-resistant alloys and austentic materials is conducted using an array of neutral and accelerated salt spray techniques, chemical pitting tests and humidity chambers.
 
The Test House's metallography facility enables examination of the microstructure of metals and alloys, to determine such characteristics as grain structure, material inclusions and cleanliness, weld quality and case depth. Macro examinations up to 10x magnification and micro analysis to 1000x are undertaken on projector and stereo binocular microscopes, with photographic and video print functions, whilst semi-automatic sample preparation enables handling even the latest generation of superalloys.
 
All Keighley Laboratories NDT inspectors are qualified to either PCN Level 2 or 3 and are available for in-house and on-site work, at home or overseas. This accredited service covers the most common methods of inspection, Liquid Penetrant Testing, Magnetic Particle Testing and Ultrasonic Flaw Detection, with radiography additionally provided on a sub-contract basis.
 
Also in the field, non-destructive ferrite meters can identify the ferrite content of welded seams in pipelines and processing plant, which could lead to a decrease in mechanical or corrosion resistance if levels are incorrect. To complement this, magnetic permeability testing enables the accurate assessment of a material's residual magnetism, which is critical for applications where stainless steels or copper alloys must have a very low or negligible response to electromagnetic fields.
 
Positive material identification (PMI) or alloy verification is used to determine the composition of a variety of materials, such as mixed metal stock, critical components, in-service pipework, valves and connections, and high grade alloys. Using the latest XRF (x-ray fluorescence) analysis equipment and Spark Emission Spectrometry techniques, Keighley Labs can undertake rapid PMI verification of most ferrous and non-ferrous materials, either in-house or on-site.
 
The Test House customer base covers a wide variety of organisations, from high tech industries, through manufacturers using the service for 'live' QA testing on production components, to small engineering shops verifying that parts meet required specifications. Industry sectors served include aerospace, automotive, defence, oil & gas, rail & transportation, wind power and general engineering. Test pieces are typically finished components, either new production items or parts that have failed in service, or raw materials for verifying that they are fit-for-purpose, with size usually no obstacle since Keighley Labs can either produce smaller dummy samples or undertake testing at the customer site.  For further information, e-mail: lstott@keighleylabs.co.uk  Refer to page 225