A racquet extending along a longitudinal axis and including a frame including a head portion, a handle portion, and a throat portion. The head portion forms a hoop that defines a string bed plane. At least the head portion and the throat portion of the frame are formed at least in part of a fiber composite material. When the racquet is tested under the racquet lateral bending test, the racquet has a lateral deflection of at least 6.0 mm when measured in a direction that is parallel to the string bed plane and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

A tennis racquet extending along a longitudinal axis and capable of being tested under a lateral bending test and a forward/rearward bending test, includes a frame having a head portion, a handle portion, and a throat portion positioned between the head and handle portions. The head portion forms a hoop that defines a string bed plane. At least the head portion and the throat portion of the racquet are formed at least in part of a fiber composite material. The throat portion includes a pair of throat elements. When the racquet is tested under the lateral bending test, the racquet has a lateral deflection of at least 6.0 mm when measured in a direction parallel to the string bed plane and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

An improved apparatus and method for fillet punch creep testing of a small specimen comprises, in one implementation, a testing unit secured to a top end and a bottom end of a structural support unit, and configured to conduct creep testing on a specimen. The testing unit includes a loading unit, a fillet punch unit, a thermal unit, and a measuring unit. A filleted punch of the fillet punch unit transfers an applied pressure from the loading unit to the specimen clamped between an upper die and a filleted lower die of the fillet punch unit while the thermal unit surrounds the fillet punch unit, and heats the specimen during testing. The optimized filleted edges on the filleted punch and the filleted lower die eliminate stress concentration against the specimen resulting in stable measurements, and thus, reduce the dispersion of applied load during creep testing. Finally, an application of a constant load on the filleted punch prevents dispersion in the measured data being analyzed by the measuring unit, and allows creep testing to be repeated to predict a remaining life of in-service parts of a system.

An impact test method and an impact test device is provided, wherein an impact application member is caused to fall freely onto a test sample placed on a placement platform. When the impact application member collides with the test sample, an impact force applied to the test sample and an indentation amount of the impact application member with respect to the test sample are measured by a load meter and a displacement meter, respectively. Based on the measured impact force and the measured indentation amount, a calculation unit calculates energy loss absorbed by the test sample when the impact application member and the test sample collide with each other.

A testing arrangement includes a test specimen that is formed of a fiber composite that has first, second, and third groups of fiber ply layers. Each fiber ply layer is curved so as to have an elbow. The elbows are joined back-to-back at a central region to form first, second, and third arms that extend outwardly from the central region. The elbows define a space in the central region, and there is a space-filler within the space. The test specimen is mounted in a testing fixture such that the first and second arms are in four-point bend loading and the third arm is oriented vertically. The testing fixture is actuatable to apply an actuated load. There is an applied load on the third arm. The applied load and the actuated load cause stress in the space-filler for evaluating mechanical behavior of the space-filler.

A racquet extending along a longitudinal axis and including a frame including a head portion, a handle portion, and a throat portion. The head portion forms a hoop that defines a string bed plane. At least the head portion and the throat portion of the frame are formed at least in part of a fiber composite material. When the racquet is tested under the racquet lateral bending test, the racquet has a lateral deflection of at least 6.0 mm when measured in a direction that is parallel to the string bed plane and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. When the racquet is tested under the racquet torsional stability test, the racquet has an angular deflection of less than 5.5 degrees about the longitudinal axis. The head portion has a maximum beam height distance of at least 20 mm.

An apparatus for testing paving samples includes a base that includes a paving sample tray about the cabinet and configured for translation relative to the cabinet. A roller is configured for imparting compressive forces to a sample carried by the sample tray. An arm is configured for moving the roller from a stowed position to an in-use position where the roller contacts the sample. A cylinder assembly having a piston therein supplies pressure forces to the arm to move the arm from the stowed position to the in-use position, wherein a depth of travel of the arm is limited by the sample. As the sample is compressed, the depth of travel increases. A measurement device is in communication with the cylinder for determining an amount of travel of the arm to thus determine an amount of compression of the sample.

Drop-weight tower (110) for reproducibly initiating a crack in a material sample for fracture mechanics testing comprising a base (120) with a top surface upon which a sample holder (124) is mounted to grip a material sample, an attachment column (140) having a linear rail (142), a carriage (162) attached to the linear rail (142) and a stage (164) is attached to the carriage. The stage (164) includes a vertical rod (184) and a razor-blade holder (178). A weight is slidably mounted to the vertical rod (184). The carriage is used to adjust the height of the stage (164) relative to the material sample. A hammer (180) slides up and down the vertical rod (184) to apply consistent and reproducible force on the razor (178) that then initiates the crack in the material sample.

An abrasion tester and testing method. The testing method comprises setting a running speed of a rubber sample fixed to an outer surface of an annular belt member stretched between a pair of pulleys to a desired speed; setting a pressing load applied by a contact member to a desired pressing load via an anchor member; selecting, as the contact member, a desired contact member from a plurality of types of contact members with different rubber sample surface contacting tip specifications; pressing the contact member against the surface of the rubber sample running by the rotation of the pulleys; and obtaining an amount of scratch abrasion of the rubber sample using a calculation unit on the basis of a cross-sectional shape of the surface of the rubber sample detected by a shape sensor.

A drop tower apparatus and method of use is provided. The drop tower apparatus includes a base, a frame, a top member, rails, a sled, a triggering system, and a test fixture. The frame extends from the base. The top member is disposed on the frame opposite the base and has a winch. The rails extend from the base to the top member and are disposed within the frame. The sled is configured to slide vertically along the length of the rails and is releasably connected to the winch of the top member. The test fixture is configured to receive a sample for testing. The winch of the top member raises the sled to a desired height, the sled is released at the desired height and slides along the rails resulting in an impact on a sample placed in the test fixture.