Tensile Testing Services

Tensile testing is one of the most widely used mechanical tests for understanding how a material or component behaves under a pulling force. It provides clear, comparable data to support material selection, qualification, design validation, failure investigations, and quality control across demanding industries.

At Lucideon, we deliver tensile testing across a wide range of materials and test conditions, including extreme environments. We support customers who need more than a routine test, combining mechanical test expertise with in-house specimen machining and broader materials characterization to help you answer performance, reliability, and compliance questions.

Talk to our experts

If you need tensile testing to an established standard, an OEM specification, or a customized method for a novel component, we can help.

What tensile testing tells you

A tensile test applies a controlled load until a defined endpoint, often failure, while measuring force and deformation. The results help you quantify and compare mechanical performance and understand suitability for service conditions.

Typical outputs include:

Yield strength
Ultimate tensile strength
Breaking strength
Elongation
Poisson’s ratio
Stress strain curve data, including reduced datasets for finite element analysis

Tensile testing for extreme and realistic service conditions

Many applications require tensile data generated at realistic temperatures and environments, not just at room temperature. Our capabilities include:

Cryogenic tensile testing

Through our AMRICC facilities, cryogenic mechanical testing includes tensile testing from -196°C (-269°F) to ambient, supporting development and validation where low temperature behavior is critical.

Elevated and high temperature tensile testing

We provide tensile testing at elevated temperatures to support harsh environment applications, with high temperature tensile testing performed up to 1600°C (2912°F) for demanding material performance assessment.

We also support elevated temperature mechanical testing across a broader range of test types up to 1650°C (3002°F), enabling joined up programs that relate tensile behavior to other high temperature performance needs.

Sectors we support

Aerospace and space

From aircraft structures and landing gear to engines, propulsion hardware, and thermal protection systems, tensile testing is a core part of proving that materials and components will perform safely in service. Lucideon supports both qualification and troubleshooting programs, helping you generate dependable tensile property data and interpret what it means for life prediction and root cause investigations.

Regularly, aerospace and space applications demand data generated under realistic conditions rather than at room temperature. We offer mechanical testing capability across a wide temperature range.

Where programs call for more extreme conditions, AMRICC extends this capability with cryogenic tensile testing from -196°C (-269°F) to ambient, supporting development and validation work for systems operating in low temperature environments.

Nuclear

Tensile loading is fundamental to understanding time dependent deformation mechanisms and is closely related to creep and stress rupture testing where materials are evaluated under applied stress in tensile or compression at elevated temperatures.

A recent example of our program delivery which included tensile testing of steels at temperatures from -40°C (-40°F) up to 600°C (1112°F), providing mechanical property data for design activities including finite element analysis input datasets, can be found here.

Construction and the built environment

In construction, tensile testing underpins safety, compliance, and durability. It is routinely used to demonstrate that building materials and structural components are fit for purpose, to validate performance for certification and product launch, and to investigate premature failures or unexpected behavior in service.

Lucideon's structural testing capability includes tensile testing alongside a broad range of other structural and materials tests, enabling you to build robust evidence for design and regulatory requirements.

Testing can be conducted to established national, European, and international standards, or developed as a customized program where conventional methods do not reflect real world conditions. This is particularly valuable for novel products, unusual geometries, or design by test scenarios, where the aim is to demonstrate adequate performance under representative loading rather than simply to produce a single test value.

Energy and high temperature industries

Tensile testing supports materials used in high temperature operation where strength retention and ductility matter for safe design and reliable service.

Materials and sample types

We routinely support tensile testing programs across a wide range of material classes and forms, including:

Metals and alloys
Ceramics and advanced ceramics
Composites, including ceramic matrix composites
Coatings and joined assemblies
Components, sub scale coupons, and bespoke geometries

Where appropriate, we can also incorporate strain visualisation and measurement approaches used in mechanical testing, including digital image correlation capabilities that can be applied to tensile load to failure setups.

Standards, OEM specifications, and customized methods

We support testing to international standards and documented methods, and we also develop customized mechanical testing routines when standard methods are not appropriate, for example where novel components or low technology readiness designs require realistic simulation conditions and acceptance criteria.

This approach is particularly valuable when you need:

Correlation between lab data and in service conditions
A test method that matches an OEM requirement
A repeatable method for a non-standard component geometry
Combined mechanical and materials characterization to identify root cause

Why use Lucideon for tensile testing?

Broader mechanical testing in extreme environments

Lucideon's complex mechanical testing offering includes both cryogenic testing down to -196°C (-269°F) and high temperature testing from ambient to 1650°C (3002°F), enabling you to plan tensile programs that mirror real world conditions.

In-house specimen machining and preparation

We offer in-house specimen machining and sample preparation to help reduce program timelines and improve consistency, particularly for non-standard geometries and specialist materials.

Integrated test programs, not just data

Lucideon offers its mechanical testing as part of an integrated approach, linking mechanical performance with chemical and microstructural analysis and failure mechanisms, so results can be interpreted in context rather than delivered as standalone numbers.

Robust quality expectations for regulated sectors

Lucideon highlights a comprehensive quality assurance approach supporting work to demanding requirements, including alignment to ISO 17025 and Nadcap.

Related services

Many tensile projects benefit from complementary testing and analysis.

You may wish to explore:

Frequently asked questions

What is tensile testing used for?
Tensile testing helps you quantify strength and ductility and generate stress strain data for material selection, qualification, design validation, and investigation of unexpected performance or failure.

Can you test at cryogenic temperatures?
Yes. AMRICC's cryogenic mechanical testing includes tensile testing from -196°C (-269°F) to ambient temperatures.

Can Lucideon test at high temperatures?
Yes. Lucideon’s high temperature performance testing includes high temperature tensile testing up to 1650°C (3002°F).

Do you support bespoke specimen shapes or non-standard requirements?
Yes. Lucideon’s complex mechanical testing offers customized testing regimes, in-house specimen machining, and preparation to support complex and novel requirements.