An Apparatus for Tensile Testing of Engineering Materials

We develop a novel apparatus and an associated test protocol to measure the tensile response of materials. The apparatus allows testing of ring-shaped specimens, fibre yarns and tapes of arbitrary length; it can be employed to conduct experiments at different strain rates and in different environmental conditions. The technique is tested at low rates of strain on several materials, including carbon fibres, metals, polymers and ceramics; the tensile responses measured with the new apparatus are compared to those obtained from conventional measurements and found to be in good agreement with these.