Results from Studies of Thermomechanically-Induced Fatigue in GlidCop

GlidCop is a proprietary dispersion-strengthened copper alloy, most commonly used at hard X-ray third-generation synchrotron facilities to fabricate X-ray absorbers. Thermo-mechanical data and fatigue data for GlidCop ® are limited. Although the design criteria limits for X-ray absorbers have been successful in avoiding component failures over the present life of the facility, as the APS and other facilities contemplate upgrades that may result in higher thermal loads on the X-ray absorbers, efforts have been made to establish less conservative, more realistic design criteria limits based on the thermomechanically-induced fatigue limits of GlidCop ® . An engineering research program is underway at the APS to determine thermo-mechanical conditions that lead to crack formation and propagation. Using X-ray power from the APS, numerous GlidCop ® samples were subjected to 10,000 thermal loading cycles under various beam power conditions and these samples have been metallurgically examined for crack presence/geometry. Temperature-dependent mechanical data and uniaxial fatigue data for GlidCop ® have also been obtained from an independent testing facility. Data from these studies support FEA simulation and parametric models so that the thermomechanically-induced fatigue life of X-ray absorbers may be predicted.