Hill Engineering Blog

Enhancing Efficiency: Hill Engineering’s scanning profilometer system

by Robert Pires

In the intricate world of residual stress analysis, the pursuit of precision is an ongoing endeavor. The Hill Engineering Scanning Profilometer (HESP) was a result of this perennial struggle, offering a satisfying, in-house solution that revolutionized our ability to perform contour method residual stress measurements.

Contour Method Reproducibility Publication

by Robert Pires

Hill Engineering has participated in a collaborative, interlaboratory effort to quantify contour method residual stress measurement reproducibility. The study, entitled ‘Interlaboratory Reproducibility of Contour Method Data in a High Strength Aluminum Alloy’ was published through Experimental Mechanics, and is provided open access on Springer Link. The background, objective, and methods from the abstract text are as follows:

Hill Engineering Aims For The Horizon With Expansion

by Robert Pires

Hill Engineering is ringing in 2024 with a new expansion. By incorporating a neighboring suite into our office design, Hill Engineering now occupies our entire building, positioning us for greater achievements in the future.

Residual Stress 101: The Hole Drilling Method vlog

by Robert Pires

The incremental hole drilling method is one of the most common residual stress measurement techniques employed at Hill Engineering. A reliable and rapid process, it’s the subject of our latest Residual Stress 101 episode.

2024 SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics

by Camille Fowler

Hill Engineering will be presenting at the 2024 SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics in Vancouver, WA, from June 3rd through June 6th. We invite you to come see us!

This conference focuses on all areas of research and applications pertaining to experimental mechanics and has evolved to encompass the latest technologies supporting optical methods; additive & advanced manufacturing; dynamic behavior of materials; biological systems; micro-and nano mechanics; fatigue and fracture; composite and multifunctional materials; residual stress; inverse problem methodologies; thermomechanics; and time dependent materials. Hill Engineering’s presentation will include a summary of recent work related to residual stress measurement using the hole drilling method. The abstract text is presented below.

On the Road with the Residual Stress Field Team

by Robert Pires

In the ever-evolving landscape of materials science and engineering, on-site solutions are an important component of residual stress testing. That’s why we at Hill Engineering have a dedicated residual stress field team, capable of traveling directly to customers’ locations in order to deliver the same precision and data quality of our in-house residual stress measurements.

Senior Design 2023: An automated wire preparation device

by Camille Fowler

Over the years, Hill Engineering has had the opportunity to work with mechanical engineering undergraduate students at University of California, Davis, as part of their senior design capstone. The capstone pairs a group of students with a sponsor company in the industry to address a design challenge presented by the sponsor. For the 2022-23 school year, Hill Engineering submitted a project to the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department for an automated wire preparation device. This device would mainly be used by our engineers to cut “jumper wires” for a strain gage assembly, which are used for the many residual stress measurements we perform.

Hill Engineering Joins CMTC’s Made in California Program: A New Chapter in Manufacturing Excellence

by Robert Pires

In an exciting development for both the aerospace industry and the state of California, Hill Engineering has officially been welcomed to the California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) Made in California Program.

IMx+ system receives ATO from USAF

by Camille Fowler

You might recall a previous post introducing the Integrated Maintenance System, or IMx+ system, that uses next generation technologies to address the quality assurance needs of the aerospace industry. We’re happy to announce that the IMx+ system is now authorized to operate and connect to the USAF NIPRNET, a huge milestone for Hill Engineering and all groups involved.

Inside Hill Engineering’s Quality Control Program

by Camille Fowler

In a previous post, we highlighted the steps we took to develop a Quality System that is compliant with ISO. Since then, we have successfully completed three renewal audits and are currently accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, the most recent revision of the standard. Part of our Quality System requirements includes the creation and maintenance of a quality control program for the various residual stress measurement techniques we perform in our laboratory. Consistently providing high quality results to our customers is something we pride ourselves in and the best way for us to assure that is through a quality control program.