High-speed tensile test instrument.

A novel high-speed tensile test instrument is described, capable of measuring the mechanical response of elastomers at strain rates ranging from 10 to 1600 s(-1) for strains through failure. The device employs a drop weight that engages levers to stretch a sample on a horizontal track. To improve dynamic equilibrium, a common problem in high speed testing, equal and opposite loading was applied to each end of the sample. Demonstrative results are reported for two elastomers at strain rates to 588 s(-1) with maximum strains of 4.3. At the higher strain rates, there is a substantial inertial contribution to the measured force, an effect unaccounted for in prior works using the drop weight technique. The strain rates were essentially constant over most of the strain range and fill a three-decade gap in the data from existing methods.