Publications

Design and implementation of coupled thermomechanical failure experiments

Dempsey, James F.; Wellman, Gerald W.; Scherzinger, William M.; Connelly, Kevin C.

Coupled thermal-mechanical experiments with well-defined, controlled boundary conditions were designed through an iterative process involving a team of experimentalists, material modelers and computational analysts. First the basic experimental premise was selected: an axisymmetric tubular specimen mechanically loaded by internal pressurization and thermally loaded asymmetrically by side radiant heating. Then several integrated experimental-analytical steps were taken to determine the experimental details. The boundary conditions were mostly thermally driven and were chosen so they could be modeled accurately; the experimental fixtures were designed to ensure that the boundary conditions were met. Preliminary, uncoupled analyses were used to size the specimen diameter, height and thickness with experimental consideration of maximum pressure loads and fixture design. Iterations of analyses and experiments were used to efficiently determine heating parameters including lamp and heating shroud design, set off distance between the lamps and shroud and between the shroud and specimen, obtainable ramp rates, and the number and spatial placement of thermocouples. The design process and the experimental implementation of the final coupled thermomechanical failure experiment design will be presented.