TestMaster AT3 and AT3+ Instron's latest automated, mechanical testers are designed to work unattended with high volumes of plastics specimens. The lowest-priced of the two, the AT3 (shown at right) can handle 80 specimens per run but tests only tensile strength, while its more robust twin, the AT3+, measures both tensile and flexural strength.
What's new? The devices, which made their debut earlier this year.
Benefits Cost-effective, consistent testing performance, with little operator involvement and safer operations. Using three-axis actuators, the devices deliver many of the same benefits as Instron's robotic AT6 testing systems, but at about 40 percent of the price. They also take up less space. The automated devices can save as much as 75 percent of the time operators would spend using manual systems. In addition, because operators are not needed in the testing area, the machines improve safety and ergonomics.
Instron, Norwood, Mass., 781-828-2500, www.instron.com
