Product Details

This apparatus is designed to study the phenomenon of material fatigue by subjecting rotating cantilever specimens to reverse bending stress until failure, allowing students to investigate fatigue strength and create Wohler (S-N) diagrams. It demonstrates how factors like surface quality and geometric notches, such as different fillet radii, significantly influence a materials endurance limit under cyclic loading. The machine features an electric motor that rotates the specimen, while a spring balance and a movable support with a threaded spindle apply a continuously adjustable bending force. An electronic counter registers and displays the number of load cycles on an LCD screen, and the system automatically shuts down when the specimen fractures. For safety, a protective cover contains any flying fragments, and the unit includes multiple steel specimens with varying fillet radii to demonstrate the notching effect. Its primary application is in materials science and mechanical engineering education for teaching failure analysis and component design for durability. The key benefit is the hands-on ability to correlate stress amplitude with fatigue life, enabling students to quantitatively analyze how design features and surface conditions affect the longevity of components in real-world applications such as axles, crankshafts, and other cyclically loaded structures.