Contribution to Structural Integrity: Fatigue and Fracture Related Full Scale Experimental Investigations Carried Out at CSIR-SERC

CSIR - Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC), Chennai, has state-of-the-art facilities and expertise for carrying out R&D studies in the areas related to fatigue and fracture behaviour of structural components and materials. In the last 25 years, the laboratory has efficiently utilised the facilities and expertise available in serving various institutions and industries related to energy sector, automobile applications, railways, aerospace applications, construction industry etc. Fatigue and fracture studies have been carried out on steel tubular joints of offshore jacket platforms, carbon steel and stainless steel piping components used in power plants, automobile components (connecting rods, air springs, air suspension systems, industrial and automobile chains, stabiliser legs, hub brackets, sub-frames, rubber bushes, parallel link brackets etc.), tyre curing press, alumino-thermit and flash-butt welded rail joints used in Indian Railways, reinforcing bars (thermo-mechanically treated bars, corrosion resistant steel etc.), and many other components and materials. This paper describes some of the important investigations carried out in the Fatigue and Fracture Laboratory (FFL) of CSIR-SERC and presents some salient test results.