A new reusable quadriaxial strain transducer

The reusable quadriaxial strain transducer consists of an eight-arm (at 45 degrees from one another) star-shaped plane-sensitive element. Two strain gages are mounted to the inner and outer sides of each arm in the neighborhood of the extremity where hard oblique pins are fixed. The pins are impressed into the surface of the material so the strains on the surface induce bending and torsional displacements of the arms. The paper describes the transducer design and the calibration procedure. Experimental results obtained on wood materials are analyzed.     

The delta-element reusable strain transducer

The paper describes a reusable biaxial-strain transducer consisting of a delta-shaped element in the form of a hollow equilateral traingle, with legs mounted perpendicular to its plane at the apices. The legs terminate in hard styli which are impressed into a test surface by axial forces acting on the legs. When the surface is strained, the displacements of the styli induce bending and torsional strains in the arms of the delta element. Strain gages mounted longitudinally on the arms detect the bending strains. It is shown that the strain in any arm is proportional to the strain in the test surface in the direction parallel to the arm. An instrument with a gage length of one inch is described and experimental results show that it has an accuracy of better than one percent.Paper was presented at the 1983 SESA Spring Meeting held in Cleveland, OH on May 15–19, 1983.     

A biaxial stress transducer for fabrics

A transducer^* is developed for measurement of biaxial stresses in fabrics and other flexible sheet materials. The stress transducer responds directly to the far-field stresses by means of strains induced in an elastic inclusion which are monitored by strain gages. Design of the transducer is based on the analytical solution for such inclusions in linear-anisotropic materials, but the concept is applied and tested in nonlinear-orthotropic structural fabrics. Calibration and verification tests are conducted for principal far-field stresses in the yarn directions in vinyl-coated polyester and tefloncoated fiberglass.     

A stiff and compact impact-force transducer based on strain measurement

A stiff and compact transducer for both static and impact compressive forces has been developed. The principle of the transducer is based on measurement of tangential strain around the periphery of an axially loaded short and axixymmetric body. It is shown that for an appropriate choice of transducer geometry the output is nearly insensitive to the distribution of the force over the loaded surface. In an experimental investigation, a prototype of the transducer was subjected to both static and impact loads of different distributions. The results show only a few percent variation in transducer sensitivity for the load distributions used. The transducer consists essentially of a homogeneous body and is simple to male. The size and material can be chosen to fit special applications.     

Development of capacitance strain transducers for high-temperature and biaxial applications

Both uniaxial and biaxial (linear/torsional) extensometers have been developed for use in materials-testing applications requiring large strain range, elevated temperatures and high testing speeds. The sensing elements in these extensometers are parallel capacitance plates. Water cooling of the sensing elements is used to achieve effective operating temperatures to 2000°F. The geometrical configurations of the capacitance plates and the electronic circuitry required to obtain linear transducers over a large strain range are described. Some examples of applications are given.     

Measurement of concrete internal strain using a three-dimensional transducer system

A new three-dimensional transducer system is introduced in this paper, which enables the measurement of six internal components of strain tensor in concrete members. Laboratory tests and strain analyses were carried out to evaluate this tranducer system. The results show that the system is effective in measuring internal strains of concrete members. It was then embedded in a reinforced concrete bridge deck in Macomb County, Michigan. Field tests were conducted to measure the strains in the deck under truck wheel load. The results were used to understand the deck's strain and stress behavior under truck wheel load.     

A dynamic biaxial testing machine

The development of generalized constitutive equations for materials requires additional experimental data. A testing machine is described which is capable of applying biaxial, tension-torsion loading to thin-walled tubular specimens over a wide range in loading rates. Both components of the load are independently controlled. The objective is to obtain information on the effect of the rate of loading on viscoplastic or viscoelastic behavior of materials. Some preliminary data are given on the effect of loading rate on the yielding of mild steel. Paper was presented at 1966 SESA Spring Meeting held in Detroit, Mich., on May 4–6. The work presented herein was performed under Contract DA31-124-ARO-D-273 with the Army Research Office, Durham, Durham, N. C.     

Simulation of ratcheting strain to a high number of cycles under biaxial loading

The Ohno–Wang kinematic hardening rule is modified to incorporate the Burlet–Cailletaud radial evanescence term for an improved simulation of the ratcheting behavior. The Delobelle parameter δ^′ is implemented in the modified model to compromise shakedown of the Burlet–Cailletaud hardening rule and over-prediction of the Ohno–Wang model. An evolution equation is proposed for δ^′ to simulate the ratcheting strain over an extended domain of cycles. Ratcheting tests were conducted on S45C steel under four types of nonproportional axial–torsional loading. The new model is found to yield reasonably accurate predictions of ratcheting strain to a much higher number of cycles compared with other studies.     

Thermoviscoplastic instabilities and double strain gradient approach in biaxial loading by effective instability analysis

In this article we study the influence of double strain gradient, reflecting microstructural inhomogeneities, on the instability regime of a thermoviscoplastic material caused by biaxial loading. A perturbation analysis proposed earlier by Dudzinski and Molinari [1991] is used. The gesults show the influence of the microstructural coefficient on the rate of growth of the instability for various values of strain hardening, strain rate sensitivity, and straining path. The role of optimal orientation is presented, and the cases of isothermal and anisothermal deformation are analysed. Our results are also compared with those predicted by the aforementioned analysis. Finally, a comparison of uniaxial and biaxial situations concerning the role of the microstructural parameter is presented.     

A traceable dynamic force transducer

A traceable dynamic force measurement system built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) for the frequency range of 0.1 to 100 Hz, is described. The strain on a load-cell element was measured by two independent methods, both calibrated in the static force standard at the NPL. All instrumentation and the measurement system for determination of the dynamic amplitudes were calibrated dynamically against reference sine waves. The load cell was then tested dynamically in a servohydraulic machine and the two force outputs compared. The two methods of strain measurement chosen were the strain gage and a capacitance gage, designed to measure the strain in as diverse a way as possible from the strain gages. Two load cells were built, with steel and aluminum elements. The strain-gage bridge was d-c excited, amplified, filtered and digitally sampled. The capacitance gage was a-c excited from a commercial capacitance bridge, which was calibrated by the injection of reference signals at the sideband frequencies. This technique is in principle applicable to any a-c excited instrumentation. The measurement system consisted of a digital storage oscilloscope, coupled to a computer. The force amplitudes were measured by cross correlation against sine waves generated in software at the frequency of the applied force. Comparison of the two methods of strain measurement and detection of systematic errors caused by the dynamic response of the capacitance electrodes lead to the determination of the uncertainty of dynamic force measurement. This was calculated to be ±0.4 percent over the frequency range of 0.001 to 100 Hz. The thermoelastic effect was also visible at frequencies below 0.1 Hz. Paper was presented at the 1989 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Cambridge, MA on May 28–June 1.     

Measuring soil compaction and soil behavior under the tractor tire using strain transducer

Soil compaction can occur due to machine traffic and is an indicator of soil physical structure degradation. For this study 3 strain transducers with a maximum displacement of 5 cm were used to measure soil compaction under the rear tire of MF285 tractor. In first series of experiments, the effect of tractor traffic was investigated using displacement transducers and cylindrical cores. For the second series, only strain transducers were used to evaluate the effect of moisture levels of 11%, 16% and 22%, tractor velocities of 1, 3 and 5 km/h, and three depths of 20, 30 and 40 cm on soil compaction, and soil behavior during the compaction process was investigated. Results showed that no significant difference was found between the two methods of measuring the bulk density. The three main factors were significant on soil compaction at a probability level of 1%. The mutual binary effect of moisture and depth was significant at 1%, and the interaction of moisture, velocity, and depth were significant at 5%. The soil was compressed in the vertical direction and elongated in the lateral direction. In the longitudinal direction, the soil was initially compressed by the approaching tractor, then elongated, and ultimately compressed again.     

A biaxial test specimen for crack arrest studies

A biaxially loaded, single edge notched (SEN) fracture specimen, with mixed modes I and II loading, was used to study the crack arrest capability of a bonded and riveted tear strap without and with simulated multiple site damage (MSD). MSD was modeled by a 50-percent groove without which the running crack would inevitably kink due to K_II loading. A total of thirty-one 2024-T3 aluminum specimens with various crack and MSD configurations were tested. The fracture parameters associated with straight and curved crack paths were determined by using the experimenta results to drive a dynamic finite element model of the specimen in its generation mode. The crack kinking and extension criteria were verified by the excellent agreement between the prediction based on these fracture parameters and the measured crack kinking angles. Comparison between the test results generated by the biaxial stress specimens and by those generated by small- and full-scale pressurized fuselage rupture experiments showed that this specimen can be used to prescreen the effectiveness of tear straps and crack arrestors in an airplane fuselage.     

A biaxial thermomechanical disk test for glassy polymers

Failure criteria for polymers need to include effects from the stress state. For this reason, biaxial test results are of interest. However, biaxial test methods usually require expensive equipment. In the test method presented here, a disk of epoxy is bonded between a steel ring and a steel disk. The temperature is then lowered until fracture is observed. Experiments were performed on three different glassy epoxy polymers. The biaxial stress state was analyzed by finite element analysis and by an approximate analytical model. Experimental observations support the ability of the method to provide material property data. An approximate analytical model was found sufficiently accurate for stress analysis and determination of the stress state at failure.     

A diffraction transducer for vibration analysis

The recently described ditfractographic technique¹, utilizing the diffraction of light passing through an aperture formed by two edges, one fixed as a reference, is used to determine small vibratory displacements. The transducer has little or no inertia, is noncontacting, and has high sensitivity and accuracy. A “time averaged” method is presented whereby peak amplitudes can be obtained with no readout instrumentation and no upper-frequency limit. Alternatively, a photodetector can be used to determine vibration amplitudes with frequency response limited only by the detector circuit.     

A piezoelectric biaxial loading device for interfacial fracture experiments

In this paper we describe the development of a new biaxial loading device for investigating mixed-mode fracture at bimaterial interfaces. The new device makes use of piezoelectric actuators and specially arranged flexures to provide independent displacements normal and tangential to the interface. Capacitive probes and special washer load cells were used for measuring the displacements and reactive loads, respectively. A closed-loop circuit was formed with a personal computer to control the applied displacements to within 10 nm. Preliminary experiments with quartz/epoxy/aluminum sandwich specimens with cracks growing between the quartz and the epoxy found that the intrinsic toughness of this interface was 30% lower than the value for a glass/epoxy interface. Crack opening interferometry measurements having a resolution of 30 nm revealed the presence of a cohesive zone whose size was about 0.5 μm.     

A procedure for measuring biaxial viscoelastic behavior of thermoplastics

In order to accurately simulate the thermoforming or blowmolding manufacturing processes using finite elements or some other suitable computational procedure, it is necessary to know the constitutive behavior of the material being formed. In this study, an apparatus was developed to measure the large deformation behavior of thermoplastic sheet at elevated temperatures. The specifications of the test apparatus, as well as sample data measurements are presented. Biaxial viscoelastic material properities of ABS sheets were determined at forming temperatures. In particular, the nonlinear stress-strain relationship of the material was experimentally measured at various temperatures above the glass transition temperature and the data correlated to a time and strain separable viscoelastic material model. The results of this study show that it is possible to recover the underlying nonlinear elastic response of heated ABS sheet material, at finite strains, from tests exhibiting significant viscoelastic behavior.     

A simple testing technique for fracture under biaxial stresses

Evidence is accumulating to suggest that the fracture toughness of and cyclic crack-propagation rates in a material may be affected by stresses acting parallel to the crack plane. This effect contradicts the justifiable assumption, implicit in fracture-mechanics theory, that only loads causing a stress singularity at the tip of a crack can affect its behavior. More extensive investigation of this important problem involves the development of special testing equipment and specimens. This article offers a simple design for such a system, which has proved in practice to be highly reliable and of adequate accuracy. Preliminary tests on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) under biaxial fatigue and ramp loading are described, to demonstrate the technique itself and the phenomena under investigation. The results suggest that, for this material at least, the effects of transverse stresses are indeed slight.     

A shear stress transducer for molten polymers

Present rheometrical techniques are inadequate for the measurement of viscoelastic properties associated with shearing at high rates. A possible solution to this problem is to use a sliding plate rheometer together with a device for measuring the local wall shear stress away from the ends and edges of the plates. Such a device has been constructed, and the results of preliminary tests are encouraging.     

A new direct biaxial testing machine for anisotropic materials

A screw-driven new biaxial testing machine for the realization of experimental investigations on anisotropic sheet materials, such as composite plates or rolled sheet metals, is presented. The described mechanical concept and servocontrol system allow cruciform specimens to be subjected to large strain biaxial tensile and compressive tests without kinematic incompatibilities. Moreover, for the proper implementation of biaxial tensile tests, the specific problems linked to the anisotropic properties of the investigated materials are taken into account; therefore, for the first time, the biaxial machine is supplied with the original ‘off-axes testing device,’ consisting of hinged fixtures with knife-edges at each arm of the cruciform specimen. A recently developed optimization method for the optimal design of flat tensile cruciform specimens is shortly reviewed. Numerical simulations illustrate the decisive superiority of the optimized specimen compared with specimen designs proposed in the literature, as well as the necessity to use the ‘off-axes’ testing technique in biaxial tests on anisotropic materials.