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Glad for a Gleeble: PSU adds key materials testing machine

Published: May 07, 2008

With funds secured by the Manufacturing 21 Coalition through the Oregon Investment Council (Oregon InC), Portland State University purchased the only piece of equipment on the West Coast capable of thermal-mechanical testing of materials.

"The Gleeble is a resource that a bunch of companies use," says Bill Wood, a professor in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department (MME). "It is an enabling piece of research technology that enhances the ability to do research and development in this industry."

Manufacturers in the region such as Boeing, ATI Wah Chang and Blount International contract with MME Department to determine how their manufacturing processes affect the properties of various materials, and how those firms can optimize the manufacturing process.

The all-digital Gleeble 3500, manufactured by Dynamic Systems, Inc, in Poestenkill, New York, arrived in about 30 boxes in April. The main machinery is being installed in the MME Laboratory, but the loud hydraulic and water chilling components will be installed on the floor below to eliminate unnecessary noise.

A Gleeble has a testing chamber capable of heating and cooling small material samples in mere microseconds or over a long period of time. The chamber can physically alter the sample by pulling or pushing it at any temperature. Precise digital readings of these tests allow the user to analyze the strength and durability of the samples.

The Gleeble may be used to test materials faster and more precisely than a company could in its own facilities. It can heat samples at a rate of 7,000 degrees Celsius per second and apply 18,000 pounds of pressure per second.

PSU has a 20-year-old model of the Gleeble, but the machine is mostly analog, and the manufacturer no longer produces replacement components if the Gleeble 1500 breaks. The new Gleeble 3500 runs on Windows software and produces precise digital readings. The machine itself costs $385,000, and Wood estimates it will cost several thousand more to install. The manufacturer offers $200,000 in upgrades to do more complicated testing, and Wood says if Oregon's manufacturers need the extra technology, he'll consider purchasing it.

Money from Oregon InC will help with other upgrades in the MME department as well. "We're upgrading the things we do most to enhance our capacity and capability," Wood said. Upgrades include an automated, computer-controlled system to test micro-hardness of material; a metalography imaging system in which test results will be available on an intranet for companies to access instantaneously; and a new heat-treating process.

The MME Department also will add two new senior materials manufacturing faculty with funds from Oregon InC.