Our customer needed to ensure that lipstick bullets were capable of sustaining prescribed cantilever loads without breaking. Mecmesin application engineers were asked to develop a suitable motorised testing system.
A system based on an UltraTest and a 50 newton Portable Force Indicator was recommended. Designing appropriate fixturing was critical for this application. A special block attached to the anvil place was used to hold the lipstick dispenser. Load was then applied to the lipstick bullet via an extension fixture attached to the force gauge. The tip of the extension fixture was indented, to maintain a high area of contact with test specimen - thus ensuring that the lipstick bullet was 'broken' rather than 'cut'. Upon completion of the test the peak capture facility of the PFI was used to determine the maximum compressive load sustained by the specimen before breakage occurred.
Cosi, UK