A new in-house test capability has been developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center to conduct highly critical tests in support of major and significant components of the Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). It is to aid the development of analytical life prediction methodology and to experimentally assist in verifying the flight-design component's life. Components within the SRG such as the heater head pressure vessel endure a very high temperature environment for a long period of time. Such conditions impose life-limiting failure by means of material creep, a slow gradual increase in strain which leads to an eventual failure of the pressure vessel. To properly evaluate the performance and assist in the design of this component, testing under multiaxial loading setting is essential, since the heater head is subjected to a biaxial state of stress. Thus, the current work undertakes conducting analytical studies under equibiaxial and non-equi-biaxial loadings situations at various temperatures emulating creep environment. These analytical activities will utilize the finite element method to analyze cruciform type specimens both, under linear elastic and creep conditions. And further to calibrate the in-plane biaxial-test system. The specimen finite element model is generated with MSC/Patran [1] and analytical calculations are conducted with MARC and ANSYS finite element codes [2-3]. Complementing these calculations will undertake conducting experimental tests. However, only results pertaining to the analytical studies are reported and their impact on estimating the life of the component is evaluated.
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