Experimental Determination of the Rate of Crack Branching in Steel

摘要

A series of internal-pressure failure tests of steel thin-walled cylindrical shells (vessels) is carried out to measure the crack growth rate in the course of breaking current-conducting strips. The experiments use a specially designed measuring setup based on a precision converter of the signals from resistance thermometers and Terkon thermocouples interfaced with a computer. The crack velocity is measured during straight-line crack propagation and crack branching.