Methodologies and Equipment for Measuring High Temperature Tensile Properties of Subscale Specimen Geometries for Additively Manufactured Metallic Materials (Continued)

Editorial Note: With the growth in adoption of addititively manufactured materials across aerospace and defense manufacturing, we decided to include two parts of this Air Force Research Lab report.

Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH

Universal test frames are generally either screw-driven or servohydraulic, which are both perfectly suited for uniaxial tensile testing experiments. A uniaxial test frame is comprised of several basic fixture components: loading device, a load cell, and a specimen gripping apparatus.

An example of a commercially available tensile testing frame is shown below. Load cells are available in a wide range of load limits to accommodate the sensitivity needs for a wide range of materials and specimen geometries. ASTM E74 outlines the calibration procedure for load cells and must be followed to ensure proper measurement during testing, regardless of specimen size. Further details about alignment and gripping will be provided given their overall importance to testing accuracy. Standardized testing procedures have been established to assist in test frame and specimen alignment through the quantification of bending strains and their acceptable limits during testing.