Thermal expansion of a fused quartz tube in a dimensional stability test facility

Abstract

A facility to monitor the dimensional stability of structures of arbitrary size or shape under varying temperature and pressure conditions is described. Real-time linear displacements are measured with a modified Michelson laser interferometer to a resolution of less than one part in 10(7) and an accuracy of approximately 2 parts in 10(7) for approximately 1 m gauge lengths. Verification of the system accuracy with a quartz tube required considerations of its fabrication and compositional characteristics.