An Elevated Temperature Torsional Fatigue Testing Fixture

Abstract

A simple fixture that can be used with any closed-loop tensile testing system for torsional cyclic testing is described. This fixture was successfully used for low cycle fatigue and crack growth rate studies of high-strength steels both at ambient and elevated temperatures. The unique design of this fixture is that by using the output of the torque cell as the feedback to the servocontroller of the hydraulic tensile testing machine, the applied torque remains independent of all machine variables and the tests can be programmed to follow any torque/time profile.