News
[07.05.09] New chemical analysis facility
UKAS accredited chemical analysis of steel is now available in-house through our sister company Metamet Consultants Ltd, following the recent purchase of a SpectroMaXx M Optical Emission Spectrometer. The equipment is managed and operated for Metamet by Testing Solutions. This new purchase enables R-TECH Services to get chemical analysis done on site in a matter of hours.
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[07.05.09] CARES Approval for Star Steel
Dr Tony Franks has now helped a third reinforcing steel company through the process of gaining product certification from UK CARES. Tony assisted Star Steel International LLC, Dubai to implement a quality management system meeting the requirements of ISO 9001, and the product specific requirements of the CARES scheme. Certification was achieved within two months of the first meeting between Tony and the client company.
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[07.05.09] BS 44492005 Amendment
British Standards Institution has published amendment 2 of BS 4449:2005 in March 2009. The amendment covers changes to the size range for coil products, and changes to the description of the rib shape for bars.
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[05.11.08] Testing to ASTM A370 and AASHTO MP13
R-TECH Services is pleased to announce that we now have UKAS accreditation for testing of reinforcing steels according to US standards ASTM A370 and AASHTO MP13. The accreditation covers tensile testing, bend/rebend testing and measurement of rib geometry.
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[05.11.08] Testing of mechanical couplers to BNFL Specification A.0391_1
R-TECH Services is pleased to announce that we are now UKAS accredited for testing of mechanical couplers according to BNFL specification A.039_1. This means that we can now test couplers accoring to all three CARES appendices (TA1A, TA1B and TA1C). Using a specially designed purpose-built dual averaging extensometer we are able to test all couplers on the market in sizes up to 40mm diameter.
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[05.11.08] Prestressing Wire and Strand
R-TECH Services is pleased to announce that we are now UKAS accredited for tensile and reverse bend testing of prestressing wire and strand according to ISO 15630-3 and BS 5896.
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[22.11.07] CARES Approval for UAE Fabricator
R-TECH Services and sister company Metamet Consultants Ltd have helped a reinforcement fabrication company in UAE achieve CARES approved status. Metamet provided the consultancy input, whilst R-TECH Services conducted the weld assessment work required for CARES approval of welded pile cages.
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[22.11.07] Reverse bend tester for PSC wire
R-TECH Services is looking to acquire a reverse bend tester for testing PSC wire in sizes 4-7mm according to ISO 7801. Any equipment, new or used considered.
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[22.11.07] R-TECH Services at Big 5 Dubai
R-TECH Services will be exhibiting at the Big 5 trade exhibition at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from 25th to 29th November.
The Big 5 is the most important five days for the construction industry in the Middle East and the largest trade show for the construction industry in the Arabian Gulf. A unique event, combining seven major exhibitions under one roof, featuring more than 2,000 companies from 67 countries.
R-TECH Services will be part of the International Business Wales stand 3E121. We would be pleased to meet you there, and discuss how we may be of service.
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[10.11.05] New Bond Testing Capability
R-TECH Services now has the capability of performing bond tests according to BS 4449:2005 Annex A. R-TECH Services is believed to be the first laboratory in the UK to offer this service. It will be of particular interest to manufacturers of reinforcing steel who need to demonstrate bond performance of their bars.
The test, taken from the European Standard EN 10080, is based on a method originally developed by RILEM. The test involves four-point bending of a test beam, consisting of two half-beams, with the test bar running through them in the tension zone. The displacement between the bar ends and each half beam of concrete is measured as a function of the applied load. Bond stresses can be calculated, according to the equations given in the EC2 design code BS EN 1992-1-1.
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New BS 4449 Published
September 2005
BSI has published new revisions of the following standards:
BS 4449:2005
BS 4482:2005
BS 4483:2005
BS 8666:2005
These revisions bring the UK reinforcing standards up to date, and align them with the soon-to-be published European Standard EN 10080. R-TECH Services is already UKAS approved to all of the test methods referred to in these standards, except bond testing, for which development is underway.
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New Testing Technician joins R-TECH Services
July 2005
R-TECH Service announces that Mike Williams has joined them as Laboratory Technician. Mike worked with Tony Franks and Russell Chiplen at Allied Steel and Wire, and brings with him a wealth of experience of testing.
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R-TECH increases fatigue testing capability
January 2005
R-TECH Services is pleased to announce that its scope of fatigue testing to BS 4449 has been increased to include bars up to 40mm diameter. A new 250kN load capacity servo-hydraulic machine has been designed and built specially for R-TECH by Si-Plan Electronics Research. The new equipment means that R-TECH can now perform fatigue testing on the whole range of reinforcing bars from 6-40mm diameter.
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