PSI - Issue 77

L.A. Lingnau et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 77 (2026) 26–33 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2026) 000–000

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Tab. 1 . Chemical composition of 16MnCrS5 steel, all data in wt.-%. C Si Mn P

S

Cr

Fe

16MnCrS5 steel

0.14 0.14 0.19

< 0.40

1.10 1.00 1.30

0.010

0.027 0.020 0.035

0.80 0.80 1.10

bal. bal. bal.

Min. Max.

-

-

DIN EN 10084

0.40

0.035

For the experimental investigations performed with the in-situ tension-compression module, a specially designed specimen geometry was developed. This geometry permits loading under both tensile and compressive conditions without inducing buckling, thereby ensuring reliable mechanical characterization. The location from which the samples were extracted ( Fig. 1a ), as well as the final specimen geometry after all machining steps, is illustrated in Fig. 1b.

Fig. 1. a) Sampling location for the in-situ tensile test specimen and b) specimen geometry for the in-situ tensile tests.

2.2. In-situ test setup Microscopic imaging was conducted using a Tescan MIRA3 scanning electron microscope (SEM). A Kammrath & Weiss GmbH tension-compression module with a maximum load capacity of 10 kN was integrated into the SEM, enabling in-situ investigations to be conducted in conjunction with the microscope (see Fig. 2a ). Fig. 2b shows a specimen with the dimensions presented in Fig. 1b , clamped using a force-locked gripping system.

Fig. 2. a) Visualization of the integrated in-situ tension–compression module and b) mounted specimen as an SE-image in the SEM.

During the experiments, cyclic tension-tension, compression-compression and tension-compression loading conditions were applied to investigate their influence on damage evolution. The traverse speed was set to 10 µm/s. The data acquired during testing were saved in .txt format and subsequently analyzed. To capture microscopic images, the camera moved synchronously with the specimen during mechanical loading. Consequently, the resulting images do not show the same exact field of view. However, the positions are sufficiently comparable to allow both qualitative and quantitative image analysis. Once the tests were complete, the image data were thoroughly analyzed and correlated