Tip Compression Strength Evaluation

The design was evaluated by recreating the bench test setup of Barkholt et al. [16 (link)]. With a GW in place, the tip was pressed against a plate with a hole slightly larger than the GW (0.36 mm). The tip was clamped into the universal testing machine Shimadzu AGS-X 10 kN (Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan). The force required to compress the tip by 0.5 mm was recorded using a 200 N load cell with an accuracy of the measured value of ± 0.5% in the range of 0.4–200 N. Below 0.4 N, the accuracy of the measured value is reduced to ± 1%. While the GW can pass through the hole, the tip gets pressed against the plate. The damage of the tip was assessed by measuring the diameter before and after the test, respectively.