EoW March 2008

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EuroWire – March 2008 66
english technology news
The Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe is one
of the biggest science and engineering
research institutions in Europe and funded
jointly by the Federal Republic of Germany
and the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
is investigating the concept of
characterisation of irradiated material by
instrumented indentation.
For this reason they purchased a ZHU0.2/
Z2.5 modular testing system from the
Zwick Roell Group to assist them in
their quest to investigate the material’s
mechanical properties after irradiation
and to understand the irradiation
damage mechanisms. Zwick was the
only manufacturer who could provide a
solution for this unique application.
The ZHU0.2/Z2.5 has a load range of 2-
200N, and a displacement measuring
resolution of 0.02μm. The system is
equipped with a fully automated X/Y
table and Rockwell and Vickers indenters.
The indentation can be viewed through a
microscope fitted with a CCD camera.
The Zwick ZHU0.2/Z2.5 is installed in a gas
tight hot cell with 200mm lead / 500mm
lead glass shielding. It carries out multi-
stage indentation tests (load/unload) with
different holding times. Neural networks
then evaluate the correlation between
this test data and the parameters of a
viscoplastic material model, normally
acquired from tensile tests.
The unique operation of the indentation
tester allows it to carry out precision
loading cycles up to various forces and
displacements with predetermined
holding times during each cycle.
TestXpert®, Zwick’s software platform for
materials testing, is used to control the
machine and obtain the synchronised
force and indentation data. This data
is then stored in a special format and
transmitted to the neural network system
to determine the material properties such
as Young’s Modulus, Yield and ultimate
tensile strength as well as hardening
coefficients.
Zwick GmbH & Co KG – Germany
Fax: +49 7305 10200
Email:
Website:
Operator using the indentation tester in a hot cell ▲
Institute buys testing system from
lZwick Roell