Shear Testing

Shear Testing Universal Testing Systems

ADMET material testing systems are ideal for performing shear tests on a variety of products and materials including adhesives, metals, composites, and sandwich core materials. Shear properties can be calculated via different test types including tension, flexion, and compression as well as different test set ups such as the V-notched rail method,  short beam method, and more. The most common measurement obtained from a shear test is the shear strength which is the maximum load a material can withstand in a direction parallel to the face of the material, as opposed to perpendicular to its surface. It is also possible to measure the shear modulus, the shear strain, and the shear yield stress when performing shear tests.

Common shear testing definitions and keywords include:

• Shear strength: The shear stress carried by a material at failure under a pure shear condition or the maximum load a material can withstand in a direction parallel to the face of the material, as opposed to perpendicular to its surface. Shear strength measurements are expressed in force per unit area.
• Offset shear strength: The shear stress a material sustains at the intersection of the shear stress versus engineering shear strain curve with a line parallel to a defined modulus and translated from the origin by a specified strain. Offset shear strength measurements are expressed in force per unit area.

Common shear testing standards include:

• ASTM B769 – Standard Test Method for Shear Testing of Aluminum Alloys
• ASTM C273 – Standard Test Method for Shear Properties of Sandwich Core Materials
• ASTM C393 – Standard Test Method for Core Shear Properties of Sandwich Constructions by Beam Flexure
• ASTM D1002 – Standard Test Method for Apparent Shear Strength of Single-Lap-Joint Adhesively Bonded Metal Specimens by Tension Loading (Metal-to-Metal)
• ASTM D3410 – Standard Test Method for Compressive Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials with Unsupported Gage Section by Shear Loading
• ASTM D3518 – Standard Test Method for In-Plane Shear Response of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials by Tensile Test of a ±45° Laminate
• ASTM D5379 – Standard Test Method for Shear Properties of Composite Materials by the V-Notched Beam Method
• ASTM D5656 – Standard Test Method for Thick-Adherend Metal Lap-Shear Joints for Determination of the Stress-Strain Behavior of Adhesives in Shear by Tension Loading
• ASTM D7078 – Standard Test Method for Shear Properties of Composite Materials by V-Notched Rail Shear Method
• ISO 14130 – Fibre-reinforced plastic composites — Determination of apparent interlaminar shear strength by short-beam method

Read our informative blog post on shear testing essentials here.