Testing of springs and blanked components: a quick tour of ISB's laboratories

For over seventy years, ISB has been designing and manufacturing springs and blanked parts for a variety of industries, including: agriculture, automotive, electronics, medical, pneumatics and hydraulics. Thanks to a one-to-one consulting approach and an accurate control of the production process, ISB can provide truly on-demand solutions, integrating product excellence with attention to service.

Quality, compliance with the standards imposed by ISO management systems, and strict control procedures are just some cornerstones necessary to remain competitive in today's globalized market. For this reason, upon customer request, ISB products are subject to strict checks, from life fatigue tests using Goodman diagrams to accelerated empirical tests. The analysis of potential critical issues is carried out using the SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), one of the most advanced technologies available on the market today.

Life fatigue tests
Fatigue tests are performed by machines that can replicate the life of compression and extension springs. The testing frequency is adjustable up to over 10Hz. This enables (if spring geometry and expected arrow allow it) carrying out accelerated cyclic tests (ex. 10^6 in less than 24 hours) to assess whether the spring will resist or not during its regular service life. The test is conducted during both the design stage and product approval stage.

100% sourcing
The 100% sourcing process is carried out before delivery to eliminate macro-defects and verify that the parts meet the most stringent requirements requested by the customer. Thanks to innovative selection machines, based on load cell or camera systems and equipped with automated feeding systems, any non-conforming parts are isolated and analyzed before being discarded.

Failure Analysis - SEM
SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) analysis is crucial to investigate component failure and discover its causes. The device can perform two types of analysis, morphological and chemical. Each analysis is accompanied by a report that includes initial assessments, high-resolution images, and findings.

ISB guarantees the requirements of its springs and blanked components by implementing an ISO 9001 and ISO 140001 certified quality and process management system. As of June 2018, ISB (previously ISO/TS 16949 certified) has completed the transition to IATF 16949:2016, which serves as a further quality assurance for the automotive industry.

For more information, please visit the “Quality & Technology” section on ISB's website: you can also find downloadable PDFs of all updated certifications.