Polymer Materials Testing Laboratory, Engineering
& Consulting Services
One Eighty is made up of a team of highly creative, vibrant and well-trained engineers. We are a group of metallurgical, materials and mechanical graduate consulting engineers. One Eighty prides itself on being able to solve highly technical problems with reliable skills and abilities. The company specialises in applying high-level technical skills to everyday engineering problems providing elegant, efficient and cost-effective engineering solutions.
Our engineering solutions focus on the challenges of manufactured products made of any material or chemical including: metallic alloys, polymers, ceramics, concrete, composites, organic and inorganic chemicals.
Advanced materials include ceramics, composites, concrete, glass and polymers (plastics).
Additionally, One Eighty’s Advanced Materials services also entail testing and research of various types of oils and lubricants, water and chemical analyses.
One Eighty works across industries such as Oil and Gas, Marine, Fabrication, Manufacturing, Automotive, Aerospace, Defence, Food and Beverage and Power Generation and in verticals that include Failure Investigation, Technology Development, Capital Projects, Non-metallic materials, Value-added Services, Welding Engineering, Auditory Function, Consulting Engineering.
One Eighty’s unique ability to assist many sectors, not only with regular testing, but also with research and development, failure investigation and material selection, makes One Eighty a key technology partner across all engineering fields.
Physical and Mechanical Testing
of Polymers and Composite Materials
Advanced Materials Testing Services
- Materials testing
- Product design
- Material selection
- Research and development
- Accelerated ageing tests to determine lifespan of material
The Advanced Materials unit at One-Eighty uses high level technology to solve real life problems. We will assess and analyse any problems associated with a product, then identify the necessary testing required to solve the problem. Critical to our service is the effective interpretation of the test data to reliably solve the problem associated with the product or process.
The Team
MARCELLE DE WAAL
Consulting Engineer
BEng Mechanical Engineering
ELMARI DE WET
Consulting Engineer
BEng (Metallurgical)
DANIEL SIMS
Consulting Engineer
BEng (Chemical/Process)
SARAH VIRGIN
Consulting Engineer
BEng Mechanical Engineering
Selection and Evaluation of Engineering Materials
for a Specific Application
- Technology development projects
- Manufacturing process optimization
- Product design and development
- Wide range of materials testing including
- Corrosion testing and evaluation
- Tensile testing, impact testing
- Hardness testing
- Compositional analysis
- Failure investigation
- Expert witness work
- Technology development
- Commercial research and development
- Reverse engineering of products and processes
- Capital projects risk mitigation and development
Advanced Materials Laboratory Testing,
Analysis & Evaluation
What are Advanced Materials?
Advanced Materials are materials with engineered properties created through the development of specialised processing and synthesis technology. They include plastics, polymers, ceramics, glass, composites, adhesives, lubricants, refrigerants, building materials, paints & coatings, industrial chemicals, biomaterials, wood-based materials and electronic materials.
There are many industry problems in the field of Advanced materials. These include:
- No quality control assurance on material supplied in terms of physical, chemical and mechanical properties.
- Difference in non-metallic materials’ interactions with open environment and in different solvents.
- Inter and intra effects of non-metallic materials with metallic components.
- Determine non-metallic materials best suited for specific applications.
- Longevity of non-metallic material under various environmental and chemical conditions.
In addition, there are many industry implications. These include:
- Unexpected wear and tear and eventual failures of material during service.
- Production line being on hold.
- Human resources being re-channelled.
- Major cost impacts.
Advanced Materials Tests
- Water Content - KarlFischer Titration
- pH
- Density (Density Cup)
- Viscosity -
Ford Cup & Brookefield - Boiling Point
- Flashpoint
- DSC
- TGA
- FT-IR
- XRD
- XRF
- SEM/EDS
- ICP-OES
- ICP-MS
- GC-MS
- Microscopy
- Thickness
- Compression
- Tensile
- Elongation
- Impact
- Oil Analysis
- Diesel Analysis
- Water Analysis -
(SANS 241 amongst others) - Hardness -
(Shore A, Shore D, Barcol, Pencil) - Shear Tests – In-plane, Lap
- UV Exposure
- Corrosion Simulation
- Salt Spray
- Burn Tests
- Adhesion – Peel, Pull-off
- Coal Analysis
- Humidity Tests
- Accelerated Aging
Mech Testing
DSC
TGA
FTIR
Scanning Electron Microscope
HPLC
GCMS
Analytical Chemistry