Development of a remote-controlled fatigue test machine using a laser extensometer for investigation of irradiation effect on fatigue properties

Abstract In order to investigate effects of neutron irradiation on fatigue properties of nuclear materials, a remote-controlled high temperature fatigue test machine was developed at the hot laboratory of the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR) in the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). A small-sized fatigue specimen having double blades to measure strain with a laser extensometer was designed for this machine. A strain amplitude in fatigue tests of a completely reversed push-pull type using a triangular wave was controlled with an accuracy of ±3% of the total strain range during test. Low cycle fatigue tests of type 304 stainless steel irradiated in JMTR at 823 K up to a fast neutron fluence of 1×1025 n/m2 (E>1 MeV) were performed in total strain ranges of 0.7–1.4% at 823 K using the designed small-sized specimens.