Issue 35

G. Meneghetti et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 35 (2016) 172-181; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.35.20 175     max 1 , max 2 ( 1) / n a L s acq m n m estimate T sen f t n f T T n             (8a)   max 1 max , max max 2 ( 1) / n a L s acq n m m estimate T sen f t n f T n T n n             (8b) where t s is the time when the temperature acquisition starts. A error index can be defined between the estimated (T m,estimate ) and the actual (T m ) mean temperature field: , m estimate m a T T T    (9) By using Eq. (8b) into Eq. (9), the error index results:   max 1 max 2 ( 1) / n L s acq n sen f t n f n            (10) Eq. (10) says that for typical testing conditions adopted in the present work, i.e. f L =37Hz, f acq =200Hz, n max =1000, the relative error  in the estimation of the mean temperature is lower than 0.1%. M ATERIAL , SPECIMENS ’ GEOMETRY AND TEST PROCEDURE ingle edge V-notched specimens were machined from a 6-mm-thick hot rolled AISI 304L stainless steel plate (elastic modulus E=194700 MPa, engineering proof stress R p0.2 =327 MPa, engineering tensile strength R m =690 MPa [9]), according to the geometry shown in Fig. 2. Constant amplitude, push-pull stress-controlled fatigue tests were carried out by using a servo-hydraulic Schenck Hydropuls PSA 100 machine equipped with a 100 kN load cell and a Trio Sistemi RT3 digital controller. Load test frequencies between 30 and 37 Hz were adopted. Crack propagation was monitored by using a travelling optical stereo-macroscope operating with a magnification of 40x. The material surface temperature was monitored by means of a FLIR SC7600 infrared camera, having a 1.5-5.1  m spectral response range, 50 mm focal lens, a noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) < 25 mK, an overall accuracy of 0.05°C, operating at a frame rate, f acq , equal to 200 Hz and equipped with an analog input interface, that was used to sample synchronously the force signal coming from the load cell. The infrared camera and the travelling microscope monitored the opposite surfaces of the specimens, respectively. To increase the infrared camera spatial resolution, a 30 mm extender ring was adopted, which allowed a spatial resolution ranging from 20 to 23  m/pixel, depending on the distance between the specimen’s surface and the focal lens. Due to the extender ring, the Field of View (FoV) was reduced to 320x256 pixels, which corresponds to a minimum of 6.4 mm x 5.1 mm and a maximum of 7.4 mm x 5.9 mm. The specimens’ surface were polished by using progressively finer emery papers, namely starting from grade 100 up to grade 1000, and after that the surface was polished with a diamond abrasive powder. Finally, a black paint was applied to the specimens’ surface to increase the emissivity. The acquired temperature maps were processed first by using the FLIR MotionByInterpolation tool to correct the relative motion between the fixed camera lens and the moving specimen subject to cyclic loads, whose displacements ranged from 6 to 14 pixels, depending on the crack length. The infrared images were analysed by means of the dedicated ALTAIR 5.90.002 software, in order to calculate the mean temperature distribution T m (r,  ) at a given time t=t s during the fatigue S