Investigations on tensile mechanical properties of rigid insulation tile materials at elevated temperatures based on digital image correlation algorithm

This work investigates the tensile mechanical properties of rigid insulation tile (RIT) materials at room temperature (26 °C) and elevated temperatures (700–1000 °C) through experimental and digital image correlation (DIC) methods. Experimental results indicate that the tensile strength of RIT materials changes nonlinearly with increasing temperature and that the primary fracture mode under tension load is fiber root fracture. In terms of the DIC algorithm, this work builds an elevated-temperature DIC test system. A zero-mean Gaussian filtering algorithm and an image gradient difference square sum algorithm (SSDGI) are proposed to improve the precision of the DIC algorithm. The derived tensile stress-strain curve of RIT materials reveals that the elastic modulus changes nonlinearly with increasing temperature. The reliability and precision of the DIC algorithm are confirmed through the tensile test of silicon carbide particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites. Hence, this work provides guidance for evaluating mechanical properties of RIT materials under elevated temperature environments.