Testing machines
Hydraulic uniaxial testing machine Mod. 8502, Instron, with a load capacity of 100 kN equipped with data acquisition boards (up to 4 channels) |
| Hydraulic uniaxial testing machine Mod. MiniBionix 858, MTS, with a load capacity of 15 kN, equipped with data acquisition boards (up to 16 channels, 5 kHz) |
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Hydraulic uniaxial testing machine Mod. FPF 20, Italsigma, with a load capacity of 20 kN |
| Hydraulic axial-torsional testing machine Mod. MiniBionix 858, MTS, with a load capacity of 100 Nm and 15 kN equipped with data acquisition board (up to 16 channels, 5 kHz) |
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Electric uniaxial testing machine Mod. V1000, Vitrodyne with LOAD CAPACITY OF 100 N |
| The SHORE WESTERN hip wear simulator is used to investigate wear in prosthetic hip joint. The wear tests were performed following the recommendations defined in international standard. |
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The SHORE WESTERN knee wear simulator is used to investigate wear in prosthetic knee joint. The system allows tests according to the ISO/DIS 14243-1,2,3 (20-08-2003) but it's flexibility makes it suitable to other application (testing other artificial joints, choosing parameters different from the standard ones etc. ) |
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Measurement techniques and facitities
X-ray microCT system Skyscan 1072 - 100 kV(Belgium) for microCT analysis and 3D reconstruction of bone tissue or biomaterial samples |
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Rougosimeter HOMMEL TESTER T8000 for measurement of roughness and surface morphology Accuracy according to DIN 4772 Class 1 Measuring ranges/Resolution ± 8 µm / 1 nm ± 80 µm / 10 nm ± 800 µm / 100 nm ± 8000 µm / 1000 nm |
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Strain
- Strain gauges of all fashions and possible applications (different data loggers up to 96 channels and 1 kHz sampling frequency)
- Procedure for preparation and exploitation of embedded gauges
- Reflection and transmission photoelasticity
Force
- Different types of load cells
- In house technique for embedding miniature (2 mm) piezo transducers to measure contact forces. A data logger has been developed on purpose
Displacement
- 8 high precision LVDT's (1 micron accuracy),
- 4 of them waterproof 4 different types of extensometers (including one for soft tissues)
Length
- Digital height caliper (precision better than 0.05 mm on a full length of 500 mm)
Weight
- High precision scales (full load: 200 g; sensitivity of 0.01 mg; uncertainty of ±0.10 mg)
Crack propagation
- Self developed two-channel data logger for "Krak gauges"
Non-destructive testing
Temperature
- High precision resistance thermometer
- Two data loggers for thermocouples (up to 16 channels and a maximum sampling rate of 9 Samples/second)
Other magnitudes
- Profile projector
- Optical microscopes
- Customized sensors and data loggers are built depending on needs
Manufacturing facilities
The workshop of the lab is equipped with a basic workshop for the preparation of custom designed fixtures and manufacturing of prototypes:
- one lathe
- two drills
- one 2 1/2 axes CNC milling machine for rapid prototyping
The lab also has access to other facilities
The cooperation with the other Labs inside Rizzoli Research Institutes, with the healthcare units inside Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institutes, with Sant'Orsola Hospital, and with the Engineering Faculty makes available many more resources when additional characterization of the specimens is required. For instance:
- Standard X-ray technique
- High resolution X-rays (mammography)
- CT scans
- DEXA
- RSA
- Scanning Electron Microscopy
- Speckle and holographic interferometry