Mechanical fatigue test

This involves a specific test for dropper wires to simulate the long-term fatigue of the wire resulting from railway traffic over time. The standard typically requires a cable to resist a minimum of 2 million cycles. The test simulates a typical movement of a dropper wire in realistic conditions.

Apart from being typically carried out on catenary wires, this test is suited for a variety of wires and cables. Typical standards are NFC 34 110-2/EN 50119 or customer specific requirements for speciality wires.

Our strengths
Description

Our unique new test bench allows up to six simultaneous tests, each of which can be performed under different conditions, including adjustable force and amplitude.
Our mechanical fatigue tests are fully accredited.
Our lab has over 5 years of experience with mechanical fatigue testing for numerous references worldwide.

The sample dropper wire is embedded in copper fixing sleeves or clamped in specific devices in a test bench;
Weight is added to the test bench;
Each cycle consists of an alternate compression and load cycle. The dropper cable is subjected to sinusoidal oscillations with a specific amplitude, so that it bends at the extremities, subsequently lifting a weight over a short distance;
A successful test can be concluded when no breaking of constituent wires of the tested dropper wire sample occurs before completing 2 million cycles;
A full report is prepared including test object data, test description, set-up, procedure results and conclusions.