Sonoco Products Company

Robert E Rowlands

Terry D Gerhardt

John T Wise

Edmond P Saliklis

Apparatus and method for experimentally determining the compressive material strength of tubular products includes a housing having a cylindrical cavity therein, top and bottom end caps closing opposite ends of the cavity, tubular bladder means mounted in the cavity and defining a pressure chamber larger than the tubular products to be tested and a fluid receiving space between the bladder means and the wall of the cavity, a plurality of small balls substantially filling the pressure chamber around the tubular product being tested, means for pumping hydraulic fluid into the fluid receiving space to cause the bladder means to apply pressure uniformly to said small balls and thence uniformly over the external curved surface of the tubular product. Means are included to continuously monitor and display the magnitude of the pressure applied to the tubular specimen, and to detect and signal tube failure. Tubular specimens can be instrumented to monitor additional testing characteristics. The tubes can be inserted into or removed from the apparatus, as can the balls, without disrupting the hydraulic seal. Tubes of varying dimensions, geometry and material can be tested in the same fixture.

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Madison, WI, United States of America

Robert E Rowlands