Sustained load fixture and methods of placing a specimen in tension
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsHawken S. Downs, Brian Scott Kasperson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Sustained load fixture and methods of use. The sustained load fixture comprises a force applicator within an outer housing; a first specimen mount secured to the outer housing and configured to hold a first end of a specimen to be loaded; a second specimen mount secured to an inner housing and configured to hold a second end of the specimen to be loaded; and the inner housing movable relative to the outer housing to apply a tension to the specimen through the second specimen mount, the force applicator positioned to apply a force to the inner housing such that the inner housing translates the force from the force applicator into the tension on the specimen.
Claims21
A sustained load fixture comprising:
- a force applicator within an outer housing;
- a first specimen mount secured to the outer housing and configured to hold a first end of a specimen to be loaded;
- a second specimen mount secured to an inner housing and configured to hold a second end of the specimen to be loaded, wherein the second specimen mount comprises a threaded connector;
- the inner housing movable relative to the outer housing to apply a tension to the specimen through the second specimen mount, the force applicator positioned to apply a force to the inner housing such that the inner housing translates the force from the force applicator into the tension on the specimen;
- and
- a torque retention nut connected to the threaded connector, wherein the torque retention nut is configured to set a distance between a far end of the inner housing and the first specimen mount.
A method of applying a sustained tension load to a specimen, the method comprising:
- securing the specimen on a first specimen mount and a second specimen mount of a sustained load fixture;
- securing an inner housing of the sustained load fixture on the second specimen mount of the sustained load fixture by adjusting a torque retention nut connected to a threaded connector of the second specimen mount to set a distance between a far end of the inner housing and the first specimen mount of the sustained load fixture;
- and
- applying a force to the inner housing using a force applicator within an outer housing of the sustained load fixture to change the distance between the far end of the inner housing and the first specimen mount of the sustained load fixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.