CREEP CRACK-GROWTH TESTING OF PLASTICS - I - TEST CONFIGURATIONS AND TEST SYSTEM-DESIGN

To perform fracture mechanical tests under long-term static lending co nditions at varying temperatures and in different environments, severa l test systems and a test procedure were developed and implemented. Th e test systems consist of a loading unit for a wide range of load leve ls and specimen geometries, an environmental chamber, the equipment fo r temperature control and devices for the measurement of crack lengths and crack opening displacements. A unique feature of these test syste ms is that crack growth and creep behaviour cinder static lends for a wide range of materials can be simultaneously characterised in one sin gle test. While Part I of this paper describes the test system design and various test configurations, Part II is concerned with the data ac quisition and reduction scheme and also provides experimental results of creep crack growth tests with plastics. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.