Advanced Test Control Techniques for Improved Insight into Individual Device Fracture in a Multi-Sample Fatigue Test System

摘要

A multi-sample test system has been created with advanced control techniques, which allow the user to individually monitor the fracture of nitinol single apex samples cut from an endovascular device. The system can reliably detect a reduction in load of less than one gram at test frequency indicating impending failure on each station and increases the rate of data acquisition on the specified station where the load falloff precursors are detected. The software used allows the operator to record peak-valley load data as needed for long term fatigue but also has the ability to capture a user defined number of cycles of that load cell only when a load drop-off occurs without the burden of recording the data from all of the load cells in the test. Only the test site of interest is magnified and detailed. Following a fracture, the system allows the user to decide if the test should continue, pause in order to remove the damaged specimen, or terminate, without damaging any of the other samples.