Testing capabilities: mechanical, thermal & fire testing
At Advanced Architectural Products, every product undergoes a series of rigorous tests to uphold the highest standards of quality and best practices. This meticulous approach guarantees specified performance and reliability in everything that we do.
Mechanical Testing
Static Structural Testing
Tensile
Applies tensile pulling force to a material and measures the specimen’s response to the stress.
Compression
Determines a material’s viscoelastic behavior under applied crushing loads, and are typically conducted by applying compressive pressure to a tested specimen.
Fastener Pull-Out & Torque Behavior
Flexural
Measures the behavior of materials subjected to simple beam loading.
Shear
Designed to apply stress to test sample so that it experiences a sliding failure along a plane that is parallel to the forces applied.
Creep
Determines the amount of deformation a material experiences over time.
Dynamic Structural Testing
Fatigue
Applying cyclic loading to your test specimen to understand how it will perform under similar conditions in actual use.
Dynamic Impact
Assess the integrity of composite materials, providing valuable insight into the impact-resistance contributing to the optimization of material performance.
Dynamic Mechanic Analysis (DMA)
Characterizes a material’s properties as a function of temperature, time, frequency, stress, atmosphere or a combination of these parameters.
Hardness: Barcol, Shore A&D
Characterizes the indentation hardness of materials through the depth of penetration of an indentor, loading on a material sample.
Full Scale Testing
Tests all combined relationships of the critical elements of the structure in the most realistic manner
Thermal Testing
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
Used to determine a material’s thermal stability and its fraction of volatile components by monitoring the weight change that occurs as a sample is heated at a constant rate.
Rheological Analysis
Measures the deformation of matter under the influence of imposed stress and analyzing the internal response of materials to forces.
DSC Testing
Transition Temperatures
Technique to evaluate material properties such as glass transition temperature, melting, crystallization, specific heat capacity, cure process, purity, oxidation behavior, and thermal stability.
Oxidative Induction Time (OIT)
Uses a differential scanning calorimetry to predict the thermo-oxidative resistance of a material.
Specific Heat Capacity
The DSC measures specific heat capacity by heating a sample and the temperature difference between the sample and a reference.
Thermography Infrared (IR) Imaging Analysis
Surface temperature variations and measured and recorded by using infrared video and still cameras.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
Project Specific Analysis (FEA)
Every A2P project is examined with its specific live and dead loads and cladding attachment for stress and deflection in crosswise and lengthwise directions. Unique setups such as those involving cantilevers, temperature-dependent material properties, and any other anomalies are also assessed.
Coupled Thermal Stress Analysis
Solves the conjugate heat transfer project with the simulation calculation of thermal conduction, convection, and radiation.
Thermal Analysis
Allows detailed temperature and heat-flow mapping and can be combined with mechanical analysis in multi-physics thermo-mechanical simulations.
Hygrothermal Modeling (WUFI)
Analyzes the movement of heat and moisture through a building over time at specific climate conditions.
Physical Testing
ASTM E283
Air Leakage – Determines the air leakage rates of exterior windows, doors, skylights, and curtain walls, under specified differential pressure conditions across the specimen.
ASTM E330
Air Penetration – Evaluates the structural performance of exterior windows, doors, skylights, and curtain walls under uniform static air pressure differences.
ASTM E331
Water Penetration – Determines the water penetration resistance of exterior windows, doors, skylights, and curtain wall when water is applied using a calibrated spray apparatus while simultaneously applying uniform static pressure to opposite sides of the test specimen.
ASTM D6904
Wind-Driven Rain – Evaluates the ability of coatings to resist the passage of water through masonry block when exposed to water spray and air pressure.
Densimeter
Measures specific gravity and density of materials.
Colorimeter
Measures the absorbance and transmittance of light as it moves through a sample.
Environmental Chamber Analysis
Manipulates the environmental conditions of an enclosed space to run controlled performance and thermal cycling tests.
Fire Testing
ASTM E1354 Cone Calorimeter
Determines the amount of heat released from a burning product.
NFPA 285
Test method for determining the fire propagation characteristics of exterior wall assemblies and panels.
Limited Oxygen Index
Determines O2 concentration to support combustion of solid materials.
ASTM D6904
Wind-Driven Rain – Evaluates the ability of coatings to resist the passage of water through masonry block when exposed to water spray and air pressure.
Loss on Ignition
Determination of the mass loss from solid combustion residues upon heating in an air or oxygen atmosphere to a prescribed temperature.
ASTM E84*
The ASTM E84 fire test is used to measure a material’s surface burning characteristics.
UL 94
This test measures the self-extinguishing time of a vertically oriented polymer specimen.
*Conducted by third-party
**Tests are third-party verified
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Our testing capabilities include static structural tests (like tensile and compression) plus dynamic structural tests (like fatigue, dynamic impact, DMA, and hardness testing such as Barcol and Shore A&D). We also conduct flexural, shear, and creep testing to understand behavior under loading and over time, as well as full-scale testing to evaluate combined structural relationships in the most realistic manner.
We conduct thermal testing methods such as Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), rheological analysis, and DSC testing (including transition temperatures, oxidative induction time (OIT), and specific heat capacity), plus thermography infrared (IR) imaging analysis to record surface temperature variation. We also conduct Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for project-specific live/dead loads and cladding attachment (stress/deflection crosswise and lengthwise), coupled thermal stress analysis, thermal analysis (heat-flow mapping), and hygrothermal modeling (WUFI) for heat/moisture movement over time in specific climates.
For building-envelope performance, we test our systems to the following standards: ASTM E283 (air leakage), ASTM E330 (structural performance under static air pressure differences), ASTM E331 (water penetration resistance), and ASTM D6904 (wind-driven rain), along with tools like environmental chamber analysis for controlled performance and thermal cycling tests. For fire testing, we conduct tests based on the standards of NFPA 285, ASTM E1354 cone calorimeter, ASTM E84 (conducted by a third party), UL 94, limited oxygen index, and loss on ignition. All tests are third-party verified.