Streamlined & insightful mechanical testing.

Mechanical tests turned around in minutes, material waste reduced by 99%, and part complexities analysed - meet PIP: metal AM's new best friend.

Did you know that testing of additively manufactured metal could easily be 99% more efficient?

Tensile testing in additive manufacturing is costly and time-consuming, with witness coupons often failing to reflect build properties accurately (see our recent case study).

Imagine obtaining solid mechanical property data directly from the part itself. PIP Testing makes this possible.

With PIP (Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry), stress-strain curves are generated in minutes through an indentation test, eliminating material waste and achieving up to 99% cost and time savings compared to uniaxial testing.

“Plastometrex’s unique technology platform enable us to assess, improve, and deploy additive parts far more efficiently than previously possible.”
David Wragg, Senior Metallic Materials Engineer

With PIP testing, you're able to:

  • Drastically speed up parameter optimisation and material development
  • Qualify parts without the need for witness coupons
  • Easily map the spatial variation in Yield and UTS across builds
  • Feed more data into simulations

You only need a few minutes to gather the following data outputs:

  • Tensile stress-strain curves up to UTS
  • Hardness numbers
  • Surface roughness 

Lower your AM part qualification costs by 99%

  • The cost per cubic centimeter of AM material is estimated at $6.31
    (including material, printing and post-processing).
  • To produce a standard ASTM E8 coupon would cost around $700
  • PIP sample volumes are 99% lower, reducing the cost to less than $7
Fig 6. Cost per Test

Fast, Streamlined
Testing

Simplify your testing process, from minimal sample prep (p1200 finish) to automated testing taking just 5 minutes. Results are instant, with users reporting time and cost reductions of up to 99% compared to standard tensile testing workflows.

More Insights,
Better Representation

Carry out indentation tests directly on builds, ensuring representative results while removing the need for witness coupons. Generate spatially resolved maps with multiple indents at a millimetre scale.

Small Samples, Less Material

Extract accurate stress-strain curves from samples down to a size of just 3 x 3 x 1.5 mm with PIP's millimetre scale indentation test. 

Read our case study with Renishaw

In this case study with Renishaw, we uncover how the varying temperatures throughout a furnace have a significant impact on the mechanical properties of AM parts, in this case showing over 10% variation in yield strength, and how these findings have led Renishaw to optimise their heat treatment process, ensuring consistency and increasing confidence in part performance.

Read case study

Have a question?

Our technical team are on hand to answer any questions you might have about the technology.