Purpose
To perform fatigue crack growth testing and research to characterize the in-service performance of aerospace structural materials. Provide mechanical test data needed to characterize damage progression, including digital image core, NDE results ( e.g. eddy current) or crack closure analysis.
Equipment/Test Method
Servo-hydraulic test machines
– Load capacities: 5-kips, 20-kips, and 50-kips – Computer-controlled systems for automated fatigue and fracture testing |
Typical/Recent Experiments
- Probability of Detection study to investigate the reliability of small crack detection in Space Shuttle flow control valves using eddy current inspection
- Repeated support of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) investigating durability and fracture mechanics issues of space-flight hardware
