With sales of more than $1.3bn,六角is the worlds leading advanced structural materials company and is a global enterprise with over $1 billion in annual sales. With headquarters in the USA and 17 manufacturing sites in Europe, USA, and China, it offers a breadth and depth of products and services that is unmatched in the industry. It manufactures a full spectrum of advanced material solutions - everything from carbon fibre and reinforced fabrics to pre-impregnated materials (or prepregs) and honeycomb core, adhesives, tooling materials and finished aircraft structures, through to after-sales and support.
正在操作的机器人之一处理杂志的标本
剑桥达克斯福德（Duxford）的英国工厂是欧洲研究与技术中心，是欧洲的主要机械测试设施，其实验室是R＆T，资格和QC运营的关键设施。
Well equipped with fatigue, impact, tensile, flexure, and compression test equipment, it carries out research using more than 70 different testing specifications for its customers in the US and Europe. The laboratory is also heavily used by R&T in the development of new materials, whilst a significant amount of qualification testing is undertaken for certification of materials for customers, including Airbus. In addition, most of the QC testing for Europe is carried out at Duxford.
复合材料的六链速率机器人测试
20年前，Hexcel是世界上第一家购买商业机器人测试系统的公司，用于在复合标本上进行拉伸测试和弯曲测试。关键目标是提高测试结果的一致性，尤其是弹性模量的测量，并加快测试吞吐量。机器人系统用于研究和开发工作和常规QC测试。
最近，Hexcel从Zwick Roell, this time with additional functionality as their markets now demand more extreme environmental testing, and the number of different specimen type and shapes has increased. For example, the latest systems carry out tensile and flexural tests inside a temperature chamber operating between [-80ºC and +300ºC for tensile and 23ºC to 300ºC on flexure] using robots to handle the specimens between the user magazine and the testing machines.
The robotic testers give a reduction of in-batch variation
“使用机器人技术进行测试可以消除测试中的许多错误来源。与此同时，它使操作员有更多时间专注于样品准备。” Hexcel的实验室工程师John Rennick评论说。“生产后，标本通过自动测量单元进行测量，这有助于我们从一开始就确保测试结果的高可重现性”。
“一旦从测量单元传输了横截面区域，设置了液压拉伸握把的最佳握力压力。这确保标本正确握住，并避免过多的力，从而导致样本损坏，从而导致过早失败标本。自动标本测量单元的主要优点是我们的样品测量值的一致性，可减少测试过程中随后步骤中的错误。样品测量单元还可以使样品对齐，以便每个样品都可以精确地插入测试机中的每个样品他补充说。
在环境温度以下测试时，测试实验室面临许多挑战。测试吞吐量受到温度室，测试固定装置和标本达到所需测试温度的时间的严重影响。所有这些都是由Zwick的最新机器人系统自动处理的，该系统根据预设测试规范控制温度。机器人系统将标本通过温度室中的特殊设计的门插入，并进入液压控制的拉伸夹具或弯曲固定装置。机器人的主要优势之一是它能够测试样品之间温度变化很小的样本的能力。
The test is then carried out automatically by the robot system, which takes over the complete process including the application of a digital extensometer, and allows operators to do other more important tasks. When carrying out flexure tests the span of the rig is motorised and is set by the software according to the test specification ensuring that specimens are always tested correctly. At the same time the testing system records the specimen temperature and logs it on the test report and in the data file together with all the mechanical test results.
约翰·伦尼克（John Rennick）说：“自从我们开始使用机器人测试仪以来，我们注意到减少了内部变化的变化和吞吐量的显着增加，使我们能够保持库存水平低于以前的水平。我们确实注意到机器人系统下降时吞吐量的差异为了维护，我们必须返回手动测试。”
The most technically advanced composite testing lab in the world
二十年来，HEXCEL仍然是世界上最先进的复合测试实验室，并向客户证明质量是其第一重点。约翰补充说：“当游客进入我们的实验室并看到我们正在用于机械测试的技术水平时，他们告诉我们他们从未见过像它这样的另一个实验室。”