Characterization of Regional Mechanical Property Anomalies in Tensile Test Specimens

This study demonstrates that regional mechanical property anomalies can be identified in tensile specimens using high-resolution, multi-point tracking and suitable analysis software. Identification of such regions is important for test validation and for accurate interpretation of force-displacement data. Biaxial tensile tests on bovine peritoneum showed that regional strains can vary by a factor of 3 within a single specimen, and analyses that ignore such variations are shown to produce stress-strain graphs that are substantially in error.