When performing tensile tests on rope or thread, special fixtures are required. These fixtures, available in manual or pneumatic configurations, allow you to quickly load, properly align, and securely hold each specimen. Rope fixtures come in different sizes and load capacities, the size and strength of your specimen should determine which type of rope fixture you need.
For light weight rope specimens such as medical sutures, fine thread, and fibers micro tensile thread grips are available. Micro tensile thread grips are significantly smaller and lighter than traditional rope fixtures, making them compatible with low-capacity (high sensitivity) load cells needed to measure very light loads. The video below shows a tensile test being performed on dental floss using a micro rope grip.
