This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in the area of Applied Solid and

Fracture Mechanics. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail Dr. Carl F.
Popelar, Southwest Research Institute.

Applied Solid and Fracture

Mechanics
The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Solid and
Fracture Mechanics Laboratory (Solids Lab) provides test data
for understanding the structural integrity of a specimen, coupon,
subcomponent, or structural test element. Uniaxial
servohydraulic test frames are used for applying tension,
compression, bending, or mixed loading modes on test
samples. The laboratory also contains the instrumentation and
data acquisition hardware required to measure and record load,
displacement, strain, and other transducer data. Applications
range from the simplest tensile test to variable-amplitude,
spectrum crack growth (SCG) testing.

Heat tinting clearly illustrates

different crack propagation regions in
fracture tests.

CAPABILITIES
With more than 40 years of experience, the SwRI Solids Lab provides test data on:
Tensile and compressive properties
Fatigue, fatigue crack growth and fracture toughness
Specialized fracture mechanics
High-rate constitutive properties
Corrosion fatigue and high-temperature fatigue (including LCF and TMF)

High-temperature fatigue properties are measured on a

single crystal nickel alloy.

Low-temperature (note white frost) toughness is evaluated on

a pressurized steel airbag inflation cylinder subjected to fourpoint loading.

Quasi-static or cyclic test setups and evaluations can be conducted in the Solids Lab with a unique
setup of complex and specialized fixtures. Extensive capabilities also exist for performing variableamplitude, SCG tests in which the loads recorded during service (or theoretical design loads) are
applied to the test coupon.
Data generated in SwRI's Solids Lab have been used by virtually all industries including
aerospace, oil and gas, and transportation, as well as numerous government entities.

The state-of-the-art Solids Lab is housed in a high bay that

can accommodate oversize test components.

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

The 6,500-square-foot Solids Lab contains uniaxial test frames with closed-loop computer control
capability. A partial list of equipment includes:
More than 20 servohydraulic and three servoelectric test frames ranging from 1 to 200 kips
Eleven fully automated fatigue crack growth test control systems (FTA) allowing K-control

(for da/dN testing) and variable-amplitude SCG tests

Seven LabVIEW 16-bit data acquisition systems and high-speed, transient 12-bit DSOs
Direct and indirect potential drop for nonvisual crack measurement
Extensometers, microprofilers, and strain amplifiers
Resistance and quartz lamp ovens (2000F maximum)
Induction furnaces (temperature grip limited) and molydisilicide element furnace (3600F)
Enclosures for aggressive and high-temperature environments
High-cycle fatigue frame (>1000 Hz)
Two split Hopkinson pressure bars (120 and 340 ksi maximum stress)

An extensive supply of grips and fixtures is available to test realistic fatigue-critical locations.

A miniature disk-shaped carbon specimen is rigged with an

acoustic emission sensor.

This flyer was published in April 2001. For more information about applied solid and fracture
mechanics, contact Dr. Carl F. Popelar, Manager, Mechanics and Materials Section, Solid and
Fracture Mechanics Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute,
P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510, Phone (210) 522-3617, Fax (210) 522-6965.

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