Novel in situ device for investigating the tensile and fatigue behaviors of bulk materials.

For investigating the static tensile and dynamic fatigue behaviors of bulk materials, a miniaturized device with separate modular tensile and fatigue actuators was developed. The fatigue actuator presented good compatibility with the tensile actuator and mainly consisted of a special flexure hinge and piezoelectric stack. In situ fatigue tests under scanning electron microscope or metallographic microscope could be carried out due to the miniaturized dimensions of the device. A displacement correction method of tensile actuator based on load sensor compliance was investigated, and the feasibility of the method was verified by the comparison tests with a commercial tensile instrument. The application of testing the storage and loss modulus as a function of frequency was explained, and the temperature rises of both the piezoelectric stack and specimen were obtained as a function of frequency. Output characteristics of the fatigue actuator were also investigated. Additionally, the discharge performance of piezoelectric stack based on various initial voltages and fatigue tests on C11000 copper was carried out. This paper shows a modularized example that combines a servo motor with a piezoelectric actuator attached to the specimen grip to realize the in situ fatigue tests.