Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2026

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Robert A. Marks

Abstract

This thesis presents the design, analysis, manufacturing, and testing of a material testing furnace for its intended use at Santa Clara University. The goal of this project is to develop a cost-effective and adaptable furnace capable of providing a controlled hightemperature, inert environment for material characterization. The furnace incorporates welded aluminum chambers, stainless steel load-transfer rams, an argon-based atmospheric control system, and planned tungsten heating elements for reaching temperatures up to 2000 ◦C. Trade-off analyses were conducted on the ram cooling channel geometry as well as the choice of coolant through both plates and rams. Manufacturing efforts were focused on machining and assembly of the cooling system, as well as starting assembly of the total system. Ram manufacturing was possible with the available resources on campus, with welding required for the aluminum chamber. Experimental flow test results demonstrated that the cooling system functioned as intended with roughly 7.5% flow loss across the components. The completed work established the basis for future integration of the heating system, vacuum environment, and full-system validation testing.

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