System and method for testing of micro-sized materials
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsAllen Hagerman Reed, Guoping Zhang, Hang Yin, David C Young
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods for testing sediment submerged in liquid and manufacturing the apparatus. The apparatus and methods of the present embodiment can provide for nano/micro characterization of mechanical properties of materials submerged in liquid, facilitating specimen preparation and installation, and can provide hydrated materials. The apparatus can include cell walls with optical magnifying lenses so that the materials can be viewed without the aid of a microscope.
Claims11
A method for characterizing the mechanical properties of materials comprising:
- configuring a magnifying lens in a container, the container having an opening;
- configuring a sample support rod in the container;
- configuring a compression punch at the opening;
- positioning a sample of at least one of the materials on the sample support rod based on information from the magnifying lens;
- filling the container to a pre-selected depth with a fluid;
- submerging the sample in the fluid;
- moving the sample support rod towards the compression punch to force the sample to interact with the compression punch;
- and
- characterizing the mechanical properties of the sample based on data resulting from the interaction of the sample with the compression punch.
A method for manufacturing material properties testing apparatus for characterizing a mechanical properties of materials comprising:
- preparing two magnifying walls, an imaging window, and a side wall;
- configuring the magnifying walls with at least one magnifying window;
- mounting at least one magnifying lens in the at least one magnifying window;
- choosing a sample support rod sized based on the base plate;
- connecting the sample support rod to the base plate, the sample support rod supporting a sample of at least one of the materials;
- attaching the base plate to each of the imaging window, the magnifying walls, and the side wall to form an open container, the open container holding a pre-selected depth of fluid, the sample being submerged in the fluid;
- configuring a compression punch at the opening of the open container, the compression punch interacting with the sample and producing data the data characterizing the mechanical properties of the sample;
- and
- attaching the sample support rod to a belt-drive.
A testing apparatus for testing material properties of a sample comprising:
- a base plate;
- a plurality of side plates, at least one of the plurality of side plates configured with a magnifying lens, the plurality of side plates connected to each other and to the base plate to form a container, the container having an opening oriented relatively parallel to the base plate;
- a compression punch being positioned at the opening, the compression punch configured with a load cell;
- and
- a sample support rod extending from the base plate, the sample support rod configured to hold the sample, the sample being positioned based on the magnifying lens, the sample support rod configured with a belt-drive forcing the container, the sample support rod, and the sample to interact with the compression punch generating force and displacement data, the force and displacement data being automatically transferred to a load cell computer by the load cell, the load cell computer automatically translating the force and displacement data into a force-displacement curve, the material properties being based on the force-displacement curve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.