Tensile Test Machine for Unsymmetrical Materials

A novel solution to overcome the shortcoming of conventional tensile test machines in dealing with unsymmetrical materials and off-axis testing of composites is presented. Conventional testing machines are designed on the basis of subjecting a specimen to axial load to determine the stiffness and strength of the material. For specimens with unsymmetrical cross-section this method is no longer valid due to induced additional bending stresses. To overcome this problem a novel tensile test machine was designed, which allows bending deformation, thus subjecting the specimen to pure tension instead of axial loading. To validate the design, the machine was fabricated and employed for tensile testing of an aluminum specimen with unsymmetrical cross-section. The comparison of test results from a conventional machine and from analytically calculations, based on pure tension, reveals that conventional machine generates significant errors, while the results from new machine are in good agreement. The machine was then used to test a functionally graded beam.     

Development and Evaluation of the Quadrant Ring Test Method

Testing of ring-shaped specimens often is required for determining the hoop-direction mechanical properties of cylindrical composite structures. A quadrant ring test method was developed in an effort to produce a relatively uniform stress distribution in the ring specimen using a conventional tensile testing machine. Finite element analysis results indicated that the four-sector quadrant test is capable of producing a more uniform stress distribution in the specimen than the split-disk test. However, similar tensile strengths were obtained using the quadrant and split-disk tests, both significantly below those obtained from tensile testing of flat specimens. The lack of improvement in tensile strength produced by the quadrant test was caused by small rotations of the fixture quadrants during loading, producing greater peak stresses than for the ideal case of radially displaced sectors. These results suggest that test fixturing that produces a true outward radial displacement of the fixture sectors is required to produce accurate tensile strengths.     

Size Effect on The Bending And Tensile Strength of Micromachined Polysilicon Films for MEMS

I. INTRODUCTION Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have achieved impressive progress and become a very area of research. But long-term durability of various MEMS devices requires a fundamental understaof the fatigue and fracture characteristics of su…     

热障涂层弹性模量和残余应力测试研究

采用数字图像相关法实验研究了热喷涂制作的热障涂层的弹性模量和残余应力。首先,采用三点弯测试方法对热障涂层试件进行加载,并利用二维数字图像相关方法对热障涂层试件加装过程中的弯曲变形进行了精确的测量,进而获得了热障涂层在受拉和受压两种状态下的弹性模量,结果表明,受拉时热障涂层试件陶瓷层的弹性模量为31GPa,而受压时其弹性模量为34GPa。其次,基于内力平衡,推导了考虑曲率变化的涂层残余应力计算公式;利用三维数字图像相关法测量了喷涂前后基体曲率的变化,进而获得了涂层残余应力的大小,结果表明,热喷涂后的热障涂层残余应力为压应力,大小为-86^-70MPa。     

岩石断裂尺寸效应测试装置研制及实验研究

面向岩石断裂尺寸效应研究的实验装置需求,针对现有技术中三点弯曲装置对多组尺寸岩石试件适应性差、最小跨距的测试量程不足等问题,研制了一种可灵活用于岩石断裂尺寸效应测试的三点弯曲装里.装置采用"两体分离式"的设计,三种不同型号的滚子与压头体、支座体配合使用,有效避免了不同尺寸试件采用同一直径滚子测试带来的实验精度问题;同时...     

A Simple Methodology to Measure the Dynamic Flexural Strength of Brittle Materials

A simple methodology is proposed for measuring the dynamic flexural strength of brittle materials. The proposed technique is based on 1-point impact experimental setup with (unsupported) small beam specimens. All that is needed is a measurement of the prescribed velocity as a boundary condition and the fracture time for a failure criterion, both to be input in a numerical (FE) model to determine the flexural strength. The specimen was modeled numerically and observed to be essentially loaded in bending until its final inertial failure. The specimen’s geometry was optimized, noting that during the very first moments of the loading, the specimen length does not affect its overall response, so that it can be considered as infinite. The use of small beam specimens allow large scale testing of the flexural strength and comparison between static and dynamic loading configurations. Preliminary experiments are presented to illustrate the proposed approach.     

Tensile and Tensile-Mode Fatigue Testing of Microscale Specimens in Constant Humidity Environment

A tensile and tensile-mode-fatigue tester has been developed for testing microscale specimens in high humidity environments in order to investigate the fracture mechanisms of microelectromechanical materials. A humidity control system was installed on a tensile-mode fatigue tester equipped with an electrostatic force grip. A specimen and a griping device were inserted into a small chamber and the humidity was controlled by air flow from a temperature and humidity chamber. The humidity stability was within ±2%RH for humidities in the range 25–90%RH for eight hours of testing. Fatigue tests were performed on single-crystal silicon (SCS) specimens in constant humidity environments and laboratory air for up to 10⁶ cycles. The gauge length, width, and thickness of the SCS specimens were 100 or 500 μm, 13.0 μm, and 3.3 μm, respectively. The average tensile strength was 3.68 GPa in laboratory air; this value decreased in high humidity environments. Fatigue failure was observed during cyclic loading at stresses lower than the average strength. A reduction in the fatigue strength was observed at high relative humidities. Different fracture origins and fracture behaviors were observed in tensile tests and fatigue tests, which indicates that the water vapor in air affects the fatigue properties of SCS specimens.     

A new bending test method of advanced composites

This paper deals with a new bending test method of advanced composites. Although the conventional three- or four-point bending is convenient to obtain a bending strength, it has several disadvantages especially for advanced composites. A newly proposed method is based on a bending by means of axial compression and this method overcomes the above disadvantages. A set of testing devices was designed and machined, and various kinds of composites were tested. It is made clear that the new method is suitable especialy for high performance composites such as T800/epoxy.     

General solution for u-shaped bellows overall-bending problems

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Use of a vector damage parameter in modeling of long-term strength of metals

We consider the results of known tests of tubular specimens under a constant axial stress and a constant or alternating tangential stress. The cyclic variation in the sign of the tangential stresses significantly increases the time to fracture.     

Strength scaling of adhesive joints in polymer–matrix composites

The fracture of adhesive joints between two glass-fibre laminates was studied by testing double cantilever beam test specimens loaded by uneven bending moments. A large-scale fracture process zone, consisting of a crack tip and a fibre bridging zone, developed. The mixed mode fracture resistance increased with increasing crack length, eventually reaching a steady-state level (R-curve behaviour). The steady-state fracture resistance level increased with increasing amount of tangential crack opening displacement. Cohesive laws, obtained from fracture resistance data, were used for prediction the load carrying capacity of 2-m long “medium size” adhesive joint specimens subjected to four point flexure. Medium size specimens were manufactured and tested. A good agreement was found between the predicted and measured strength values of the medium-size specimens. Thus, the scaling from small specimens to medium-size specimens was successfully achieved.     

Simple Testing System for Pure Bending Tests with Large Deflections

The potential uses of new materials in structural elements are growing constantly. The focus is on the use of composites with high strengths and strains [1], among other properties. This means that their mechanical properties and failure modes need to be described. Bending tests are widely used for these purposes due to their advantages compared to other types of tests. In particular, pure bending tests are very useful when calculating mechanical parameters and failure modes. These tests do not superimpose different types of loading on the specimens and do not introduce shear stresses which often make the test difficult to carry out properly (for example, in sandwich beams that exhibit great changes in curvature and therefore have a small core thickness). Nonetheless, if long specimens with large allowable strains or curved specimens need to be tested, then traditional bending test methods may fail to apply; making the displacement of support points and load application necessary. This work proposes a pure bending test method that overcomes these disadvantages. It is based on a pulley system which, in addition to introducing the necessary rotations, allows the reduction of the distance between test specimen supports and guarantees pure bending. After the corresponding kinematic study that shows the foregoing, the tests carried out on a test specimen yield uniform characteristics known to confirm the validity of the design.     

The influence of biaxial stresses on high-cycle fatigue-crack propagation

Arising from a design study, an examination has been made of the problems associated with evaluating the fatigue behavior of an I-beam section joined to a transverse stiffener, loaded in biaxial bending. A laboratory test rig has been designed to study high-frequency (40–230 Hz) fatigue-crack propagation in the tensile flange of a composite aluminum I-section, for a range of stress biaxiality ratios (λ) from 0 to +1 (equibiaxial tension), λ being varied by adjusting the ratios of loading spans in the two orthogonal axes for the same amount of uniaxial deflection. The results obtained are considered in the context of the significantly contradictory information currently available in the literature. Crack geometry and test procedure (as influenced by load/stress measurement) are found to considerably influence the effect of biaxial stresses on fatigue. Thus, the growth rate of corner-initiated cracks increases with increasing stress biaxiality (monitored in terms of nominal applied stresses), but the reverse is true for center-cracked specimens. When tests are conducted in terms of combinations of local stresses, or data reduced using corrections, there is no significant effect of biaxial stresses on fatigue-crack growth.     

Where is the elastic limit?

The elastic limit provides a convenient concept for the design of mechanical and structural parts which should exhibit no permanent deformation after loading and subsequent unloading. The offset tensile yield strength of a material for small offsets, such as the 0.01-percent offset, is considered to be a good approximation of the elastic limit. TheWT-bend tester provides an alternative method to the tension test of determining the offset yield strength of materials. The specimens are subjected to cyclic bending and energy dissipation is used as a yield criterion. The stress as a function of the offset has been determined for a number of alloys. For some of the materials investigated cyclic stresses at levels considerably below the 0.01-percent offset yield strength caused significant changes in mechanical properties. Furthermore, for some highly cold-worked materials substantial cyclic softening could be observed. This raises the question: where is the elastic limit? It is hypothesized that no true elastic limit exists and that it would be possible only to determine an anelastic limit.     

A thin-sheet, combined tension and bending specimen

Validating stress intensity factor solutions for combined tension and bending is an arduous task because the necessary experimental data are not readily available. Toward this end, a tension and bending test specimen was designed to produce controllable levels of both tension stress and bending stress at the crack location. The specimen was made from 2024-T3 clad aluminum, which is commonly used in aircraft structures. The need for testing multiple specimens of various geometries and stress levels prompted the development of an analytical tool for specimen design. An extention of the Schijve line model, based on simple beam theory, was developed to calculate the stress distributions of tension and bending through the length of the specimen. A comparison of measured static strain levels with those predicted by the model showed the model to be accurate to within 5 percent, confirming its efficacy for specimen design. As expected, for the same remote stress (100 MPa), cracks in the tension and bending specimens grew faster than those in middle-cracked tension specimens.     

New evaluations for multiaxial-stress properties of ceramic materials

This paper suggests some new evaluations for multiaxial-stress properties of ceramic materials. These evaluations include some that have been used for other kinds of materials, as well as others which have not been previously employed. In some cases, these methods represent modifications of existing evaluations. The paper is confined to macroscopic behavior based upon bulk laboratory specimens. The influences of volume, stress gradients and localized behavior are not considered here since considerable attention has recently been devoted to these questions. The important problem of fracture strength will not be considered since this property appears to be considerably influenced by localized microscopic behavior. However, new evaluations of remaining mechanical properties for states of combined stresses will be presented. These include elastic and plastic strength, stiffness, ductility, resilience and toughness. Emphasis on combined-stress properties was selected since recent critical reviews indicate the need for for such an evaluation. Part A of this paper outlines new experiments that are needed to evaluate the mechanical properties and to confirm theories proposed in Part B. In Part B of this paper, new macroscopic engineering-type theories for combined-stress behavior are presented for the first time. These theories attempt to predict combined-stress behavior from uniaxial tension and compression (or pure bending and compression) behavior. These theories provide for materials such as ceramics with different properties in tension and compression. A final section of this presentation is devoted to improvements in the evaluations of other mechanical properties of materials as related to high-temperature creep and fatigue properties.     

Size effects in material strength due to crack growth and material non-linearity

Failure by strength and fracture collapse tend to compete with one another when the specimen sizes are varied. Material testing dealing with the determination of tensile strength and hardening is usually carried out with small specimens while the evaluation of fracture mechanics parameters such as critical stress-intensity factor or strain energy density factor requires specimens that are larger in size. The formation of cracks in small specimens does not appreciably affect failure by strength collapse. On the other hand, the fracture process is not disturbed by the development of plastic hinges in the unbroken ligament of the larger specimens.     

大理岩试样循环加载强化作用的试验研究

利用不同晶粒大理岩块加工成完整和含孔道的圆柱试样,在伺服实验机上分别进行单轴和常规三轴循环加载试验,其中三轴循环加载包括维持围压恒定和卸载围压两种情况.结果表明,循环加载确实可使试样的强度增加,强度大致提高5%-10%.岩石的材料强度和承载能力是两个不同的概念.大理岩晶粒之间多为裂隙,轴向压缩加载时晶粒局部接触应力远高于名义应力,在岩样未达到峰值应力之前,接触处已经产生很大的变形乃至出现局部破坏,形成的碎屑在卸载时可以脱落充填到附近的空隙,提高岩样承载能力.这种强化特征是与摩擦相关的承载能力,并非材料强度;与多次循环加载造成材料强度逐步劣化不同.从卸载点附近卸载与再加载应力应变曲线的关系,可以确认卸载是否引起岩石承载能力的增加.     

Development of a Closed-Loop High-Cycle Resonant Fatigue Testing System

In this paper, a vibration-based testing methodology to assess fatigue behavior of a metallic structure is presented. To minimize the testing duration, the test setup is designed for a base-excited multiple-specimen arrangement driven in a high-frequency resonant mode, which allows completion of fatigue testing in an accelerated period. The shaker operates in closed-loop control with dynamic specimen response feedback provided by a scanning laser vibrometer. A test coordinator function is developed to synchronize the shaker controller and the laser vibrometer and complete the closed-loop scheme: the test coordinator monitors structural health of the test specimens throughout the test period, recognizes change in specimen dynamic behavior due to fatigue crack initiation, terminates test progression, and acquires test data in an orderly manner. The test methodology is demonstrated with cantilever specimens that are clasped on the shaker armature with specially-designed clamp fixtures. Experimental stress evaluation is carried out to verify the specimen stress predictions. A successful application of the experimental methodology is demonstrated by validation tests with Al 6061-T6 aluminum specimens subjected to fully-reversed bending stress.     

Bending and local buckling of a nanocomposite beam reinforced by a single-walled carbon nanotube

This paper studies the pure bending and bending-induced local buckling of a nanocomposite beam reinforced by a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT). The Airy stress-function method was employed to analyse the deformation of the matrix, and the cross-sectional change of the SWNT in bending was taken into account. A particular consideration was given to the effect of the SWNT’s radial flexibility on the strain/stress states and buckling. It was found that in thicker matrix layers the SWNT buckles locally at smaller bending angles and greater flattening ratios. This causes higher strains/stresses in the surrounding matrix and in turn degrades the strength of the nanocomposite structure.