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Development of an electromechanical triaxial test facility for composite materials

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Abstract

An experimental facility has been developed that is capable of generating any combination of tensile and/or compressive forces on three mutually orthogonal axes of a cruciform-shaped composite specimen. Using this computer-controlled test facility, any stress ratio in biaxial (σ1-σ2) or triaxial (σ1-σ2-σ3) stress space can be evaluated. A description of this electromechanical testing facility, including the reaction frame, test fixture, computer control system and instrumentation is included. Once fully assembled, uniaxial, biaxial and triaxial tests were performed on aluminum and on a carbon/epoxy composite laminate to evaluate the performance of the test facility. Using the data generated from these tests, the performance of many aspects of the triaxial testing facility, including the intra-axis alignment, automated computer testing algorithms, data acquisition algorithms, calibration values and machine compliance, was evaluated. The overall very acceptable performance of the triaxial testing facility is believed to have been demonstrated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, South Dakota State University, 57007-0294, Brookings, SD

    J. S. Welsh (Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming, 82071, Laramie, WY

    D. F. Adams (Professor Emeritus)

Authors
  1. J. S. Welsh
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  2. D. F. Adams
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Welsh, J.S., Adams, D.F. Development of an electromechanical triaxial test facility for composite materials. Experimental Mechanics 40, 312–320 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02327505

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02327505

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