Tensile stiffness

For the design of membrane structures, realistic material values of the mechanical properties are essential. For this reason, we offer biaxial tensile tests according to standard specifications or individual customer specifications, if desired also with subsequent determination of the elastic constants.

We offer:

  • Biaxial force and strain measurement,
    • which can performed force or strain controlled,
    • and where both axes can be controlled independently of each other.
  • The strain measurement works contactless with an optical measuremnt system.
  • We have a 50 kN and a 20 kN tensile testing mashine.
  • Tempered tests (-30 °C bis +70 °C) are possible at our 50 kN tensile testing mashine.
  • Additionally we can provide the determination of the elastic constants (tensile stiffness and poisson's ratio)

We work according to the standards:

  • MSAJ/M-02-1995
  • DIN EN 17117-1

MSAJ/M-02-1995

The biaxial tensile test procedure after the japanese standard MSAJ/M-02-1995 has established itself over years as the common procedure for biaxial testing. It contains the typical load conditions that prevail in a membrane structure and takes into account the force maximum of your material.

For an offer after the standard MSAJ/M-02-1995 we just need the ultimate tensile strength of your material for both directions of your fabric.

DIN EN 17117-1

The new biaxial standard DIN EN 17117-1 is a developement of the MSAJ/M-02-1995. In this case, the controlled force maxima and minima are fine-tuned to the requirements of the individual fabric directions and thus individually adapted for each material.

The tensile test results of your material provide already all parameters who are necessary for a meaningful offer.

Determination of elastic constants

Subsequent to biaxial tests it is possible for us to approximately determine elastic constants for your material. These constants can be used as input parameters for an finite element model. The determination of the elastic constants is based on the best fit method. Our in-house evaluation determines for you the best set of elastic constants as a function of the available load conditions according to the principle of the least squares error sum.