One vital aspect of vehicle safety is the thorough testing of seat belt materials. Lloyd Instruments, a leading supplier of
materials testing equipment to the automotive industry, has launched a testing system designed specifically to test the tensile strength and elongation at break of webbing materials used in vehicles, freight, sports applications, safety harnesses and general industry areas.
The seat belt testing system consists of the powerful 50 kN (11,000 lbf)
LR50K universal testing machine, fitted with special split bollard grips for webbing materials.
Flexible test control and analysis comes from the
NEXYGENPlus materials testing software. With its comprehensive library of international standard test set-ups
NEXYGENPlus also include high multi-level security and audit tracking for total traceability of user access without any loss of data. Using the
VE1 video extensometer with the seat belt testing system, video capture and playback offers a powerful visual tool for training and additional sample analysis.
Webbing materials must be strong yet sufficiently flexible for easy handling. For total safety and accuracy, special testing grips are required to prevent slippage during testing. The “explosive” nature at the point of break can cause damage to mechanical extensometers, but is no problem for non-contact extensometers like the
VE1 video extensometer.
The seat belt testing system from Lloyd Instruments brings speed, efficiency and repeatable test precision to manufacturing, Quality Control and research environments. The system was originally developed for a leading UK company who supplies webbing materials to European car manufacturers and other industry areas.
The Manager of this company explains:
“With Lloyd Instruments seat belt testing system we can now conduct tension and high-accuracy elongation testing modes on the same machine, unlike before. NEXYGENPlus is a powerful tool that not only makes the task of switching between test set-ups effortless but can also generate data in great detail for comprehensive reporting. We wanted a set-up that was just as easy to operate on factory floor as in the development laboratory, which makes the system ideal.”