Thermal Fatigue Life Prediction of Glidcop® Al-15

Photon absorbers, masks, and shutters of the third-generation light sources are subjected to intense thermal stress cycles from the high intensity x-ray beams. A collaborative research study is underway at APS and ESRF to establish thermal fatigue design criteria for Glidcop® Al-15, which is commonly used for high-heat-load components. A nonlinear finite element methodology is used for modeling the nonlinear multiaxial stress-strain behavior of Glidcop test specimens. The methodology consists of transient thermal analyses followed by elastic-plastic analyses that include a creep model. A Sociemodified Smith-Watson-Topper model is used for thermal fatigue life predictions. A good correlation is observed between the predicted thermal fatigue life and experimental observations from thermal cyclic tests at ESRF; these data are presented in detail in a separate paper.