AS 1391 is an Australian standard that specifies requirements for performing tensile tests on steel reinforcing bar (rebar).
For this standard, we recommend using our SATEC™ Series LX Model. This load frame is ideal for conducting a series of tensile tests on rebar because it offers a single, large test space and hydraulic wedge action grips. The jaw faces for these grips are easy to change for different sizes of rebar.
AS 1391 specifies methods for calculating various material properties of rebar including: the lower and upper yield strength (ReL and ReH), proof stress (Rp and Rt), tensile stress (Rm), plastic extension at maximum force (Ag), total extension at maximum force (Agt), and total elongation after fracture (A). We used Bluehill® Software to capture all of these results and include them on a post-test report.
Testing to AS 1391 also requires careful speed control during a test and high accuracy strain measurement. The LX Model easily meets the force and stress requirements of AS 1391 with its high performance strain gauge load cell.
To meet the strain requirements of AS 1391, we recommend using an extensometer specifically designed for rebar testing. After the extensometer is removed from the specimen, you can capture composite strain with the system’s high resolution position encoder. This setup allows various elongation measurements to be collected with a high degree of confidence in the data.
We recommend reading and reviewing AS 1391 in order to fully understand the test set up, procedures, and results requirements.