SA radio telescope dishes put to CSIR lab test

According to CSIR light metals competence area manager Dr Willie du Preez, a team was put together to test the composite materials used for the SKA dishes. The tests carried out on the dish materials included mechanical tests, low cycle fatigue tests, high cycle fatigue tests, compression tests and shear tests. "These tests were not standard," Du Preez said. The laboratory staff had to develop appropriate tests. "This is an example of what we can do and have done successfully."

The tests, Engineering News says, confirmed that the composite dishes developed for these radio astronomy projects would be able to last for at least 20 years. The main part of the test programme ran for 12 to 18 months, although some extended tests are still being run. "The SKA was one of our big projects," said CSIR advanced casting technologies research group leader Dr Sagren Govender. The CSIR Mechanical Testing Laboratory - a national facility - has ISO 9001 accreditation and some of its test procedures are accredited to the ISO 17025 standard.

Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.