Standardized tensile testing of electrospun PA6 membranes via the use of a 3D printed clamping system

Abstract

This study presents a new design for the jaws used in the uniaxial tensile testing of PA6 electrospun membranes. The aims of the new design are both to accelerate the clamping process and additionally reduce the paper waste created by paper frames. In order to validate the efficiency of the new design, the newly developed jaws were compared both with currently used paper frames and the direct positioning of samples in metal jaws. It was demonstrated that the new jaws reduced the clamping time by half. Moreover, the maximal stress and strain values were observed to be higher than those of the metal jaws and the paper frames. Finally, it was determined that the new design enables the testing of wetted samples, which is problematic using paper frames.