Validated code-of-practice for strain-controlled thermo-mechanical fatigue testing

In a strain-controlled thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) test, a specimen is subjected, within its uniform section, to cyclic externally imposed temperature and mechanical strain fields, in order to investigate the behaviour of materials subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loadings with internal thermal constraint of free thermal expansion. With a view to improving the reproducibility, repeatability and comparability of data generated by the increasing number of laboratories carrying out strain-controlled TMF tests, the European Commission has funded a project within the 5th Framework Programme entitled "Thermo-mechanical Fatigue - The route to standardisation" (acronym: TMF-Standard), in the course of which the present Code-of-Practice (CoP) has been developed and validated. It is based on the TMF experience of 20 European laboratories involved in the project, dedicated pre-normative R&D work and an extensive validation testing exercise carried out within the TMF-Standard consortium. It aims to give advice on the appropriate test set-up, testing procedures and the analysis of results.