Institute of Metals Division - Load-Temperature History of Lattice Strain in Aluminum Alloy

IT would be of great importance to our understanding of the phenomena of fracture in metals if a unique relationship could be established between stress and some easily measurable parameter of deformation up to the fracture. It is known that no such relationshir, has been found when the parameter was the mechanically measured strain,' the major part of which is plastic. The present investigation was initiated to determine, among other things, if the X-ray or lattice strain" might be a • For the definition of lattice strain see ref. 2. more suitable parameter. To this end, annealed stress free*' specimens of 61s aluminum alloy were ** Freedom of stress in this particular case means absence of those stresses which can be checked by the technique employed. tested at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature (—195OC), by first maintaining the same temperature from the beginning until the end of the test, and then with crossovers from one temperature to the other. Three major factors had to be taken into consideration in designing the specimens and testing equipment. The test setup must allow X-ray pictures to be taken while the specimen is under load (for as much as 2 hr at a given load). Provision must be made for maintaining the test specimen at the temperature of liquid nitrogen as well as at room temperature. In addition, the specimen must be able to rotate to allow the X,ray beam to take in as large a sample of grains as possible, to maintain centering, and to correct for effects of large grains. The final design of the specimen and equipment is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The specimen and grips are hollow, enabling liquid nitrogen to be poured in through a funnel-container arrangement while the specimen is rotating. The diameter of the specimens at the 2 in. gage section is 5/16 in. with a 3/16 in. diameter hole through the center. A small pilot valve in the lower grip allows a very small stream of liquid nitrogen to escape, thus assuring circulation of the liquid at all times. A low temperature silicone grease-tissue paper packing is used to seal all joints. The specimen is held in the grips by a pin. Spherical socket joints at top and bottom are used to allow for proper alignment. The grips are connected to the thrust bearings by means of plastic couplings to decrease the heat flow. Rotation is accomplished by means of a motor which drives a plastic gear (integral with the lower coupling) through a semiuniversal joint to allow for deforma- tion of the specimen. The torque applied to the specimen is very small. The maximum stress caused by this torque at the highest loads reached was found to be less than 200 psi, The whole unit was mounted in a 10,000 Ib testing machine. An insulation cage was placed around the specimen to cut down air circulation, and consequent frosting of the specimen, and also to reduce radiation and convection heat losses. A narrow window, covered on both sides with a thin plastic materiai allows the X-ray beam to reach the specimen. Thermocouples placed just outside the pilot hole at the lower grip, in the bottom of the funnel container and near the top of the funnel container permitted checks of the