15 Years of Testing Excellence
Precision Mechanical Testing in Hydrogen Gas Environments
Specializing in the mechanical testing of materials for high-pressure hydrogen infrastructure. Hy-Performance Materials Testing LLC leverages over 15 years of industry-leading expertise to meet critical safety and performance demands.
✦ Hydrogen Embrittlement testing, Fracture Toughness, Fatigue Crack Growth, Fatigue Life, Hydrogen Precharging, and more ✦
Laboratory Capabilities
We offer specialized mechanical testing for materials exposed to gaseous hydrogen. Our testing capabilities include tensile, fatigue, and fracture toughness, all executed within a highly controlled hydrogen environment.
Temperature
<-70°C to 450°C depending on specific test parameters
Purity
Ultra high purity gas environment is standard, with oxygen measured post-test and verified <100 ppb available. Different purity levels and custom gas blends are available.
Hydrogen gas pressure
Vacuum up to 410 bar (6000 psi)
Fracture Toughness Testing
Fatigue Crack growth
Fatigue
Tensile Testing
Custom Testing
Thermal Precharging
Elastic-Plastic Fracture Mechanics using DCPD is standard.
Fully automated K-control testing. Monitor crack extension with DCPD or unloading compliance. Measurements may be adjusted for crack closure and residual stress.
Both strain controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) and stress controlled high cycle fatigue (HCF) are available. Specimen alignment verification is standard.
Tensile testing may be performed on smooth, notched or custom specimens.
We love a challenge! HPMT has customized tests in all sorts of interesting ways. Let me know your specific needs.
Thermal hydrogen precharging uniformly saturates specimens with hydrogen prior to testing.
Instrumentation
All testing at HPMT utilizes custom instrumentation designed for stable measurements in pressurized hydrogen gas
Instrumentation may be available for purchase, inquire for more information
Setting the Standard in Hydrogen Environment Testing
Dr. Kevin Nibur has been studying hydrogen–metal interactions for 25 years. He earned his B.S. in Materials Engineering from Cal Poly and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Washington State University. His interest in fracture mechanics deepened during his post-doctoral work at Sandia National Laboratories.
In 2009, Dr. Nibur founded Hy-Performance Materials Testing to establish the first commercial laboratory dedicated exclusively to mechanical testing in gaseous hydrogen environments. HPMT started small with a single test frame purchased on eBay. Since then, the entire laboratory has been built from the ground up with customized hardware that has been revised and redesigned many times over the years to ensure the best quality test results.