Element to open aerospace testing laboratory in Shanghai

Above: View from Oriental Pearl Tower over Shanghai's tallest skyscrapers: Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong, Shanghai. China (10th May 2019).
Image By Agent Wolf / Copyright Shutterstock

Element Materials Technology (Element) announced today that it will open a new state-of-the-art aerospace materials testing laboratory in Shanghai, China.

Opening on 26 September 2019, the $7m, 30,000 sq. ft. laboratory will specialize in a comprehensive range of services that include: chemical analysis; fatigue testing; failure investigation; mechanical testing; metallurgical analysis, and on-site testing at client sites. Customers will also benefit from pre-testing services, including a full machine shop and heat treatment furnaces for the treatment of materials prior to testing.

With ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation complete and Nadcap and OEM audits ongoing, the laboratory will bring capability, capacity and expertise to the large aerospace manufacturers and their supply chains based in the region. The facility will also provide testing services to the local oil and gas, transportation, power generation and medical device markets.

Rick Sluiters, EVP for Aerospace, Element commented: “Our new laboratory in Shanghai creates an unparalleled offering for customers in the region as it provides a local service – saving them time and money - while still connecting to the Group’s large, global network of technical capability, capacity and expertise.

The Chinese aerospace industry is going through rapid growth and this investment is a direct response to our customers’ needs for destructive testing services, for metals and composite materials, that will be used on the current and future generations of aircraft developed in the region.’’

Element’s support of the Chinese aerospace sector is well established, having recently successfully delivered a year-long project to investigate the hydrodynamic behaviour of the new Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) C919 aircraft at the Element Warwick laboratory in the UK.