DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A CREEP TESTING MACHINE

A SEMINAR REPORT

BY

AWOSANYA SALEWA.     PP/HND/F21/0933

SALAMI MISTURAH MP/HND/F21/0499

AYOADE SAHEED ADEBANJI PP/HND/F21/0926

OLUSEGUN ADURAGBEMI EMMANUEL PP/HND/F21/0930

OMOPARIOLA AYOMIDE OMOTAYO PP/HND/F21/0960

IYANDA OLAMILEKAN IMURAN MP/HND/F21/0505

SALAMI MUHAMMAD OPEYEMI PP/HND/F21/0933

Supervised by

Engr IMURAN A.

PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC OFFA.

MAY, 2023.
 DECLARATION

We declared that all the works in this paper was done by all the of us named aboved

and declared the work in the report sited some other authors and we make references

to their work.

ii
 CERTIFICATION

This is to Certify that this Seminar Paper titled “DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF

A CREEP TESTING MACHINE ” by PP/HND/F21/0933, PP/HND/F21/0930,

PP/HND/F21/0960, ME/HND/F21/0499, PP/HND/F21/0926, MP/HND/F21/0505,

PP/HND/F21/0935, meets the requirements of the Mechanical Engineering

Department, The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, for the Award of Higher National

Diploma (HND) in Mechanical Engineering.

iii
 DEDICATION

This seminar report is dedicated to Almighty God, our loved ones, the faculty and

staff of the mechanical engineering department at our esteemed institution of higher

learning, as well as to all those who have helped in some way or another to make this

seminar successful.

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our gratitude towards our families for their enormous

support and the staffs of Mechanical Engineering Department of Federal Polytechnic

Offa for their kind Co-operation and Encouragement which helps in the Completion

of this project.

v
Abstract

The study of creep behavior requires specialized equipment known as a creep testing

machine, which applies a constant load to a specimen at a high temperature over an

extended period while measuring its deformation. In this paper, we will discuss the

design and construction of a creep testing machine, maximum load applied on the

specimen will be 10kN and test will be carried out at maximum temperature of

700°C.The major goal of this project is to develop mechanical and electrical systems

that are capable of estimating the failure of various materials when they are subjected

to persistent loading, a condition known as creep.

vi
Table of Contents

TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii

CERTIFICATION iii

DEDICATION iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

ABSTRACT vi

CHAPTER ONE 1.0

INTRODUCTION 1.1

Aim of Study 1.2

Objectives of Study 1.3

CHAPTER TWO 2.0

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1

CHAPTER THREE 3.0

MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY 3.1

Material selection 3.2

Methodology for the project 3.3

CHAPTER FOUR 4.0

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 4.1

CHAPTER FIVE 5.0

Conclusion 5.1

Recommendation 5.2

REFERENCE 5.3

vii
1.0 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Creep testing is a time dependent slow deformation of materials under constant

stress.This phenomenon usually occurs at higher stress (less than yield strength) and

temperature values and rate of deformation of material is dependent on stress value,

material properties, time and the temperature. [1]. Engineering components in power

plants, oil refineries and chemical industries normally operate at temperature around

500oC. The operating temperatures of nuclear power plants and space rockets are

even higher (around 1000oC), which necessitates materials with high creep resistance.

Creep in system components may have catastrophic consequences, therefore, by using

testing methods, we are capable of determining the condition and development of

creep at any early and non-critical stage. In literature [2-4] it is revealed that the

compressive creep test is relatively simple and has been frequently used to

characterize the creep behavior of materials at high temperatures. The tensile creep

test, on the other hand, has been used to a more limited extent [5-8]. In these studies,

where the creep tests have been conducted. Creep is the time-dependent deformation

that happens when metals or other materials are subjected to a constant load at high

temperature over a period of time. “High temperature” is a relative term that is

dependent upon the materials involved. The temperature at which a material starts to

creep depends on its melting point [3]. Creep is a time and temperature dependent

phenomenon, occurring under load control. In creep, the material’s temperature is a

governing factor regarding what happens. However, some creep may occur even at

low homologous temperatures, and they are not always negligible. Creep at room

temperature is more common in polymeric materials and is called cold flow or

deformation under load [4].

1
Plastics also creep at ambient temperatures but, compared to lead, they are able to

sustain much greater extensions before failure, the creep curves are similar in shape to

those for metals, but the mechanism of deformation is quite different because of the

difference in structure of the material [5]. In materials science, creep is the tendency

of a solid material to slowly move or deform permanently under the influence of

stresses. It occurs as a result of long term exposure to high levels of stress that are

below the yield strength of the material [6]. Creep is more severe in materials that are

subjected to heat for long periods, and near melting point. Creep always increases

with temperature. The rate of this deformation is a function of the material properties,

exposure time, exposure temperature and the applied structural load. Depending on

the magnitude of the applied stress and its duration, the deformation may become so

large that a component can no longer perform its function for example creep of a

turbine blade will cause the blade to contact the casing, resulting in the failure of the

blade [7]. Creep is usually of concern to engineers and metallurgists when evaluating

components that operate under high stresses or high temperatures. Creep is a

deformation mechanism that may or may not constitute a failure mode. Creep

deformation does not occur suddenly upon the application of stress. Instead, strain

accumulates as a result of long-term stress [8]. The temperature range in which creep

deformation may occur differs in various materials. For example, tungsten requires a

temperature in the thousands of degrees before creep deformation can occur while ice

will creep near 0°C (32°F). As a rule of thumb, the effects of creep deformation

generally become noticeable at approximately 30% of the melting point (as measured

on a thermodynamic temperature scale such as Kelvin) for metals and 40–50% of

melting point for ceramics [9]. Virtually any material will creep upon approaching its

melting temperature. Since the minimum temperature is relative to the melting point,

2
creep can be seen at relatively low temperatures for some materials. This work is

aimed at designing and fabricating a tensile creep testing machine that would be used

to perform creep tests on Polytetrafluoroethylene . A creep curve is a plot of the

elongation of a tensile specimen versus time, at a given temperature, under a constant

load. The four stages of creep curve is (10) initial elongation flowing the application

at load, (11) transient or primary creep, (12) steady state or secondary creep, and (13)

tertiary creep. Below is the creep curve which shows the four stages.

THE PRIMARY CREEP

Fig 1. This is the stage of the curve over which the creep rate, is de/dt, is

continuously decreasing as show in the figure above. This is of interest to a

designer since it forms part of the extension reached in a given time and may affect

clearance.

THE SECONDARY CREEP

This section is a period of approximately constant creep rate and is termed

secondary creep; the creep rate is at a minimum over this region. This secondary

stage is the region at which creep occurs at more or less “STEADY STATE”. This

is the important part of the curve for most applications.

THE TERTIARY CREEP Fig 3. This stage represents a continuously increasing

creep rate and terminates in fracture of the specimen as shown in the figure above.

This tends to be the final stage of the creep curve when the rate of extension

accelerates and finally leads to fracture.

1.2 Components of Creep testing Machine

(a) Lever (b) Cold pull rods (c) Hot pull rods (d) Fulcrum (e) Columns (f) Grip for

rectangular specimen (g) Grip for circular specimen (h) Furnace (closed view) (i)

3
Furnace (open view) (j) Top plate (k) Base plate (front view) (l) Double I beam

structure of base plate (m) Dead weights

Fig 1

Lever

Lever mechanism is used for applying load at specimen subjected to creep testing.

Lever is used with dead weights to produce load up to 10kN. Lever has arm length

ratio of 1:13, total length of 1400mm and three holes in it as shown in Figure 1(a

Cold Pull Rods. There are two cold pull rods in creep testing machine and each has

length of 350mm. One is connected at the top with lever and other one is connected

with the base plate. Design of cold pull rod is shown in ure 1(b). Both cold pull rods

are further connected to hot pull rods. They have given the name of cold pull rods

because they are outside the furnace.

Hot Pull rods

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The two hot pull rods (upper and lower) of 300mm length are used in the creep testing

machine. These are called hot pull rods because some of the part of these pull rods is

inside the furnace or above room temperature along with the sample to be tested.

Upper hot pull rod is connected upper cold pull rod and lower hot pull rod is

connected with lower cold pull rod with the help of pin connectors. Other end of hot

pull rod is connected with the grips, either threaded or with the help of pin connector.

Fulcrum

Fulcrum is a very important part of the creep testing ma-chine which is required to

provide motion to lever and to create a moment. Fulcrum is connected with the center

hole of the lever by a pin connection which permits lever to rotate about this pin. This

fulcrum is connected with the top plate by four nut and bolt joints.

Columns

Four column design was used in creep testing machine as shown in Figure 1(e). In this

design four rods are connected with top and bottom plates of a machine. Total length

of each column is 1400mm. The design is the most stable one under high load

applications because its structure provides high resistance to buckling, high durability

and less material requirement for fabrication.

Grips

Figure 1(f) and Figure 1(g) show grip designs for holding rectangular and round

specimen, respectively. For round samples, internal threads are created on both sides

of grip. One end will be connected with the hot pull rod and other to the sample. For

rectangular sample, one grip end is internally threaded and the other end has a pin

type connection with sample. These grips are in the furnace along with the sample to

be tested.

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(g) Furnace

Figure 1(h) and Figure (i) show the closed and split views of split type tube furnace

for high temperature creep testing, respectively. Furnace is hanged in the center of

machine with the help of two rods which are connected with furnace from one end

and with column from the other end. Furnace has a hole at the top and bottom for the

passage of hot pull rods. Furnace is designed in such a way that heating element,

refractory material and insulation can be placed easily and specimen can be gripped

and un-gripped easily.

(h) Top Plate

Top plate is placed on top of four cylindrical columns and fulcrum is added onto the

top plate. Top plate is 600mm in length, 260mm in width and 30mm in thickness.

These columns are connected with the help of nuts and bolts with top plate. Other end

of these columns is connected to base plate. Top plate has a hole exactly in center for

the passage of cold pull rod. The design of top plate is illustrated in Figure 1(j).

(i) Base Plate

Base plate is connected with four columns with the help of nuts and bolts. Base plate

is 30mm thick and 600mm in both length and width. At center of the plate, cold pull

rod is connected with the help of nut and bolt. Whole load of the machine is acting

upon the base plate, therefore double I-beam structure is designed for the base plate to

avoid bending. Front view and double I-beam structure of base plate are shown in

Figure 1(k) and Figure 1(l), respectively.

(j) Dead Weights

Dead weights are used to apply a constant load on the sample and one end of lever is

connected with the dead weights. These dead weights are placed in a weight holder

6
which is connected with the one end of lever. Dead weights are cylindrical in shape

and different sizes and weights of 1,2,3,5 and 10kg.

7
2.0 CHAPTER TWO

2.1 Literature Review

This research paper focuses on the design and performance evaluation of the machine.

The machine’s design was related to the locally available parts and its cost

effectiveness. The machine consist of casing and frame, heating furnace along with

grippers, load arm and manual application of load with the help of load hanger. The

machine’s repeatability, reproducibility, heating capacity, creep elongation with

respect to time, load and temperature application were analyzed [1].The study is

related to the design and fabrication of creep testing machine for determining creep

curves of different materials at elevated temperature. Approximately 1000kg load was

applied at 700°C temperature. In this machine a lever mechanism is used to measure

the applied load. The applied load gives the elongation maximum to 55percent in the

specimen. The components of the machine were fabricated separately. Creep test was

carried out on different materials using ASTM standard E-139-06 [2]. This work is

related to the analysis of design of fabricated creep machine and intended to derived

creep behaviour results for thermoplastics materials and light metals .It has the four

common primary systems. The insulating material for the heating chamber is clay and

the maximum temperature of chamber is 3000c [3].The Indirect Resistance Electrical

Furnaces (IREF) based on analytical and experimental analyses was carried out. The

analytical analysis focused on a constant set of equations representing the internal and

external flow of heat energy in the furnace, which demonstrated, relatively with the

surface area of walls, heat transferring inside the furnace chamber to get a creation

mathematical model including the joining between the temperature required design

components (furnace walls, thickness and electrical power supply).The experimental

8
analysis has divided in to tow parts; first part based on process number of practice

experiments with three prototypes have manufactured in certain engineering

dimensions that changed in three different volumes of furnace, which are considered,

i.e., chamber volume of furnace is the design dimensions component. The second part

of analytical analysis based on use the Simulink program (MATLAB 7.4) compared

with experimental results of the manufactured furnaces samples, which showed the

direct effect of the design dimensions components on the performance specifications

of furnace that involve the required temperature response, temperature stability and

the deviation in the setting value of temperature [4].

2.2 Research gap

The load acting on the specimen must remain constant throughout the entire test in

order to test the creep phenomena in a material. For this, the experiment should be

conducted with the lever arm horizontal. However, the continual elongation in the

existing design from being kept in the horizontal position. Because automated lever

leveling is very important, it drives up the price of the machine. The second issue

concerned the lever arm’s power ratio of the physical load acting on the specimen to

the physical load acting on it. Lever arm’s power ratio is initially computed, but

because the lever arm’s constantly tilted, the power ratio’s current value fluctuates,

changing the weight acting on the specimen as a result. The device can be used to do

analysis on a variety of materials. Extensometers and other electronic components can

be added to the machine to make it entirely automatic and to do more precise

analyses. On a polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) test -piece with an overall length of

145mm and a gauge length of 65mm, creep test were performed. And a cross

sectional diameter of 16mm; the outcomes were in line with what is practical.

9
2.3 Discusion

The appropriate temperature range, load capacity, specimen size, and testing period

must all be carefully taken into account while designing a creep testing equipment.

The device should be able to run at temperatures as high as 1200 °C while keeping the

weight on the specimen constant. The machine should be able to execute tests for

lengthy durations of up to several thousand hours, and the load capacity should be

adequate to accept a variety of specimen sizes and forms.

2.4 Construction:

A creep testing machine's construction consists of a number of parts, including the

load frame, furnace, specimen holding, and data gathering system.

Load Frame: The load frame is the main part of the apparatus and is in charge of

administering the specimen's constant load. It includes.

10
3.0 CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Research Methodology

3.2 Materials Selection

Any physical system's design process must begin with the choice of materials.

Regarding products. When choosing materials for a design, the major objective is to

keep costs as low as possible while yet achieving desired product performance. The

qualities and costs of potential materials are the first step in a methodical selection of

the optimum material for a certain application. Materials for components are chosen

based on their intended use.

Fig 1.

11
 Fig 2

12
 Fig 3

13
 Fig. 4

4.0 CHAPTER FOUR

ASTM standard E-139-06 [1] was followed to perform creep test. Experiments were

performed on Aluminium-6061 under three different loads of 875, 1250 and 1500N at

473K. Dimensions of the samples are 6.25mm in width, 2mm in thickness, and 25mm

in gauge length. The creep test results as a function of applied load are shown in

Figure 6 and summarized in Table 6. From the results it was found that with increased

applied load minimum creep rate increased and highest of 3.12%/min was observed at

1500N.

4.1 Table 6. Summary of creep test results

Table 3.

14
Table 4.

15
5.0 CHAPTER FIVE

Conclusion: When designing and building a creep testing machine, it is important to

carefully evaluate the intended temperature range, load capacity, specimen size, and

testing period. To reliably determine the creep behavior of materials used in high-

temperature applications, a creep testing machine that is well-designed and built is

necessary. It can offer useful information for the creation of new materials and the

enhancement of already existing ones.

16
REFERENCES

1.Creep Tests of Solder Wire with Different Loads By Ryan Knott In Collaboration

with shao Deng, Kay Clark, and Michael Hui February 22, 2011, March 8, 2011.

2. A Low-Temperature Creep Experiment Using Common Solder L. Roy Bunnell,

Materials Science Teacher, Southbridge High School, Kennewick, WA

3. Kenneth Kanayo Alaneme, Bethel Jeremiah Bamike, Godwin Omlenyi, “Design

and Performance Evaluation of a Sustained Load Dual Grip Creep Testing Machine”,

Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 2, Issue

2,Page 531-538, 2014.

4. Muhammad Zubair Khan , Hassan Saleem, et al “Design and Fabrication of High

Temperature Creep Testing Machine’’, American Journal of Materials Engineering

and Technology, Vol. 3, Issue 3, Page 51-57,2015.

5. J. L. Chukwuneke1, P. C. Okolie1 , D. C. Ugwuegbu2 and J. E. Sinebe3, “Design

Analysis and Fabrication of a Tensile Creep Testing Machine”, British journal of

applied sciences and technology,Vol.14, Issue 3,Page 1-13,2016.

6. Salah K. Jawad, Investigation of the Dimensions “Design Components for the

Rectangular Indirect Resistance Electrical Furnaces”, American Journal of

Engineering and Applied Sciences, Vol. 3 Issue2, Page 350-354, 2010.

7. M Scibetta , A. Pellettieri, P. Wouters, A. Leenaerts, G. Verpoucke, “Design and

Fabrication of a Dead Weight Equipment to Perform Creep Measurements on Highly

Irradiated Beryllium Specimens”, in Proc. HOTLAB Plenary Meeting

( Halden, Norway, ) P. Carter, C.H., Davis, R.F., Bentley, J., Kinetics and

mechanisms of high temperature creep in silicon carbide: I, reaction-bonded, Journal

of the American Ceramic Society, 67 (1984) 409-417. [5] Morrell, R., A tensile creep

apparatus for ceramic materials using simple knife-edge universal joints. Journal of

17
Physical Science, 5 (1972)  465-467. M Scibetta , A. Pellettieri, P. Wouters, A.

Leenaerts, G. Verpoucke, “Design and Fabrication of a Dead Weight Equipment to

Perform Creep Measurements on Highly Irradiated Beryllium Specimens”, in Proc.

HOTLAB Plenary Meeting ( Halden, Norway, Sept.2004) pp.-1426. Jan

Kolarika,,Alessandro Pegorettib, “Non-linear tensile creep of polypropylene: Time-

straisuperposition and creep predictions Engineering and Industrial

Technologies” ,Polymer, Vol. 47 Pages 346–356, 2006

8. Jonathon Tanks, Katherine Rader, Stephen Sharp, Takenobu Sakai, “Accelerated

creep and creep-rupture testing of transverse unidirectional carbon/epoxy lamina

based on the stepped isostress method”, Composite structures Charlottesville,

Vol.159, Pages 455-465, 2017.

9. Rongguo Zhao, Chaozhong Chena, QifuLia, Xiyan Luoa , “Accelerated

characterization for long-term creep behavior of polymer” in Proc. International

Conference on Experimental Mechanics · (china,Nov.2008) pp.-73751D-1-73751D-6

10. McDanels, D. L., “Analysis of stress-strain, fracture and ductility behaviour of

aluminium matrix composites containing discontinuous SiC reinforcement”. Metall.

Trans. A, Vol.16, Pages1105-1115,1985.

11. B. Ralph, H.C. Yuen and W.B. Lee, “The processing of metal matrix composites

— an overview”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 63, Issue 1-3,

Pages 339-353, 1997.

12. S.V.S. Narayana Murty, B. Nageswara Rao, B.P. Kashyap, “On the hot working

characteristics of 6061Al–SiC and 6061– Al2O3 particulate reinforced metal matrix

composites, Composites science and technology Vol.63, Pages 119-135,2003

18
13. Barbara Previtali, Dante Pocci , Cataldo Taccardo,” Application of traditional

investment casting process to aluminium matrix composites, Composites: Part A, Vol.

39,Issue 1-2, Pages1606- 1617,2008.

14. ASTM E21. 2017. Standard Test Methods for Elevated Temperature Tension

Tests of Metallic Materials.

15. ASTM E151. 2011. Standard Test Methods for Tensile, Compressive, and

Flexural Creep and Creep- Rupture of Plastics.

16. Scibetta , A. Pellettieri, P. Wouters, A. Leenaerts, G. Verpoucke, “Design and

Fabrication of a Dead Weight Equipment to Perform Creep Measurements on Highly

Irradiated Beryllium Specimens”, in Proc. HOTLAB Plenary Meeting ( Halden,

Norway, Sept.2004) pp.-142.

17. Jan Kolarika,, Alessandro Pegorettib, “Non-linear tensile creep of polypropylene:

Time-strain superposition and creep predictions Engineering and Industrial

Technologies” ,Polymer, Vol. 47 Pages 346–356, 2006.

18. Jonathon Tanks, Katherine Rader, Stephen Sharp, Takenobu Sakai, “Accelerated

creep and creep-rupture testing of transverse unidirectional carbon/epoxy lamina

based on the stepped isostress method”, Composite structures Charlottesville,

Vol.159, Pages 455-465, 2017.

19. Rongguo Zhao, Chaozhong Chena, QifuLia, Xiyan Luoa , “Accelerated

characterization for long-term creep behavior of polymer” in Proc. International

Conference on Experimental Mechanics · (china,Nov.2008)pp.-73751D-1-73751D-6

20. McDanels, D. L., “Analysis of stress-strain, fracture and ductility behaviour of

aluminium matrix composites containing discontinuous SiC reinforcement”. Metall.

Trans. A, Vol.16, Pages1105-1115,1985

19
21. B. Ralph, H.C. Yuen and W.B. Lee, “The processing of metal matrix

compositesan overview”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 63, Issue

1-Pages 339-353, 1997

22. S.V.S. Narayana Murty, B. Nageswara Rao, B.P. Kashyap, “On the hot

workingcharacteristics of 6061Al–SiC and 6061–Al2O3 particulate reinforced metal

matrixcomposites, Composites science and technology Vol.63, Pages 119-135,2003

23. Barbara Previtali, Dante Pocci , Cataldo Taccardo,” Application of traditional

investment casting process to aluminium matrix composites, Composites: Part A, Vol.

39,Issue 1-2, Pages1606- 1617,2008.

20