Custom Designed/Built Torsion Attenuation Apparatus

25

employing mechanical and extensometer fixturing manufactured from the molybdenum alloy TZM, the apparatus can torque small prismatic specimens of most silicates to perform shear microcreep and, particularly, shear attenuation. Capacitance displacement transducers under digital control allow for a strain resolution of 10–8; controlled-atmosphere furnace allows measurements to be made to 1500ºC for oxygen activities below the Mo:MoO buffer (nominally the same as Fe:FeO) [Gribb & Cooper, 1998a,b].

Loading; Unloading