Cortest recently collaborated with a load frame manufacturer to provide a customer in Europe with a custom 11 L Autoclave integrated on a 250kN capacity servo-hydraulic load frame within Cortest’s Hydrogen Enclosure. The customer sought to perform high load and frequency crack growth studies on multiple compact tension (CT) specimens at once inside of high pressure hydrogen environment. The Autoclave was designed for an design pressure of 10,500 psi (72 MPa) at ambient temperature. Due to the very large volume and pressure requirements, our traditional bolted Autoclave would have required an very thick lid with several large bolts requiring an immense amount of torque to seal properly. In an effort to increase ease of use, Cortest designed a pinned closure design. The closure uses eight A-286 pins pressed through clearance holes in the Autoclave body and into blind holes in the lid. This design choice eliminated any torque required to secure the Autoclave for operation. The upward force on the lid from the pressurized vessel kept the pins in place and engaged an O-ring seal on a mating surface between the lid and body. There was an additional safety cable wrapped around slots in the end of each pin that ensured that did not disengage during pressurized operation.
The Autoclave was seamlessly and simply integrated onto a Instron 8802 servohydraulic fatigue testing system. The integration only required that the Autoclave lid bolt to the load frame interface flange plate, the pull rod thread into the load frame actuator, and the load frame E-Stop be connected to the E-Stop on the Cortest hydrogen enclosure. The body of the Autoclave was lifted and lowered using a hydraulic actuators using the same hydraulic unit of the load frame. Cortest worked with Instron and the customer to ensure the highest satisfaction possible. The load frame and Autoclave system was placed inside of a Hydrogen Enclosure. The assembly was installed on a floor that lowered into the ground to fit inside the standard Cortest enclosure size and place the autoclave at eye level with the operator, eliminating the need for a ladder to work inside the Autoclave.
The PED certified Autoclave consisted of:
Cortest prides itself as being a industry leader in systems integration, adapting our designs to fit each customers’ specific needs.
