Tensile specimens can be prepared from a range of engineering and structural materials, as long as the material can be shaped to a defined gauge section. This typically includes:

• Metals: steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper alloys, titanium, nickel-based alloys
• Polymers: thermoplastics, thermosets, reinforced polymer sheets
• Composites: fiber laminates, carbon fiber plates, glass fiber reinforced materials
• Other solid materials used in mechanical testing research and production QC

The equipment is not limited to one material group. The main considerations are:

• thickness or diameter of the starting blank
• hardness and machinability of the material
• required testing standard or dimension set