Abstract
A new material tester has been developed to measure mechanical properties of thin film specimens at high temperature. It is useful for observing oxide film growth or local deformation on the surface, and for measuring creep strength. Main characteristics of the tester is as follows; First, high temperature is achieved by Joule heating generated by electricity passing through the specimen, which does not need to enclose the specimen by a furnace or a heating chamber. The exposed specimen enables one to observe the surface during the test. Because the overall size of the test rig is compact, the whole test rig can be placed in a chamber for environmental controlled tests. The loading device is from a level scales. Not only static load with fixed counter weight, but also variable load by moving counter weight controlled remotely can be applied for an ordinary creep test and creep-fatigue test, respectively. The detail of the construction, operation principle, and the specification are described. And also, an example of test result obtained using the creep tester is presented.