Atlas Announces a New Redesigned Universal Wear Tester
Dramatically improved reliability and repeatability for measuring abrasion resistance
Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC, a global leader in material durability testing services and technology, today announced the launch of a dramatically improved Universal Wear Tester (UWT).
The UWT, originally called the Stoll Abrader, was designed by Dr. R.G. Stoll in the 1940's as part of a research program on wear resistance for the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Section of the U.S. Army Office of the Quartermaster General. The UWT performs a variety of abrasion tests including flat, flex, fold, frosting and edge wear. It is used for testing woven and knitted fabrics, pile fabrics, hosiery, non-woven and coated fabrics, yarns and threads, as well as other materials. However, the older mechanical design of the instrument contributed to high levels of variation within and between laboratories.
Because of growing industry dissatisfaction with the inconsistency of flex testing results, ASTM organized a consortium of 17 companies and trade organizations to fund research to identify sources of variability associated with ASTM D3885 Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Textile Fabrics (Flexing and Abrasion Method). ASTM contracted the University of Georgia (UGA) to study the test methodology, the flex tester equipment it uses and to develop solutions to decrease test variability. Atlas was one of the corporate sponsors of this project. Acting on the recommendations of the UGA research team lead by Dr. Patricia A. Annis, Atlas redesigned the UWT to improve the tensioning and alignment of specimens, dramatically reducing the variability of test results.
In the flex abrasion test, a fabric specimen is rubbed against a calibrated steel bar until the specimen breaks. This stops the instrument, and the number of flex strokes or cycles is automatically recorded. The study found that variability in tests were seen in specimen positioning, non-uniform tensioning, alignment of the reciprocating table as well as in the calibration ribbon and flex bars.
"The older mechanical design allowed for too much variability in how a user positioned and tensioned the specimen" observed Dr. Annis. "The new design implemented by Atlas ensures that tension is uniform and that the user can consistently center specimens. As a result, consistency of test results has been significantly improved" she concluded.
In addition to the changes recommended by the study, Atlas took the opportunity to redesign features of the UWT to greatly improve the ease-of-use. Improvements include:
- Modern industrial design and lower height have the operator¡¦s comfort in mind while making the instrument easier to use.
- Backlit LCD counter and timer digitally display number of strokes and/or time to specimen failure ensuring accuracy.
- Digital counter counts up to 9999 cycles and can be preset for automatic shutoff without specimen failure.
- Digital timer precisely times down from up to 99:59 minutes:seconds with a 1-second resolution and +/- .01% accuracy.
The new UWT will be unveiled at the AATCC International Conference and Exhibition, October 1 ¡V 4, 2002, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For more information about the Atlas Universal Wear Tester, please contact a sales representative at(773) 327-4520 or via email at info@atlas-mts.com. Interested parties may also visit the Atlas website at www.atlas-mts.com.
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