Multilayer Pressure Vessel Materials Testing and Analysis

Description: In this four  hour course, the engineer will learn about how a comprehensive suite of materials strength, fracture toughness and crack growth rate test results for use in remaining life calculations for aging multilayer pressure vessels was provided to NASA. This includes a preliminary material property assessment as well as a fractographic, fracture mechanics and fatigue crack growth analyses of an induced flaw in the outer shell of a representative multilayer vessel that was subjected to cyclic pressure test.

Engineers who take this course gain a familiarity with a variety of material characterization and testing methods. Some include the Charpy V-Notch test, Plane Stress and Strain Fracture testing, tensile testing and more. In this course, a material is analyzed for its material properties and assessed in comparison to standard material values. Engineers can use this process to determine a new, or unknown, material’s properties. This course offers engineers material testing tools, analysis methods, and technologies for assessing cracking in most materials. Although the focus is on the outer shell of a multilayered pressure vessel, these methods and tools can be applied for a variety of other material tests.