Technical Paper
Slow Strain-Rate Testing of Automotive Radiator Brass Alloys in Engine Coolants
1990-02-01
900807
Automotive radiator designers require practical design load limits to avoid stress-and stress-corrosion failures under current and anticipated operating conditions. Today, brass radiator materials are evaluated on the basis of coupon corrosion specimens and full-scale engine tests. Coupons provide only limited information while engine tests are time-consuming and costly. An alternative method known as slow strain rate tensile testing provides valid, quantitative information on the performance of radiator materials under controlled conditions that closely simulate radiator service conditions. The test, developed 20 years ago and widely used in several technologies, enables rapid evaluation of radiator materials, coolants and to some extent, radiator fabrication methods.