Apparatus for applying a load to a material

摘要

A method of and an apparatus for applying 3 or 4 point bending to a specimen of a material. The apparatus comprises bending members to contact the specimen, a drive system coupled to at least one of the bending members to cause relative vertical movement between the bending members to deflect the specimen, and a microprocessor interfaced with the drive system to control the operation of the drive system in accordance with a computer programm. The method is characterized by controlled monitoring of the actual experimental conditions applied to the specimen and varying of the operation of the drive system when the actual experimental conditions diverge from the required experimental conditions.