Planar biaxial testing system

The Instron-Sacks planar biaxial soft tissue testing system is designed to perform mechanical testing and property analysis of natural and bioartificial soft tissues.

The low-force test system allows single- and multi-axis tests to be performed in position, load control, or strain control. It provides maximum flexibility to meet various soft tissue testing needs.

Equipment

  • Planar biaxial loading and control system: Four Instron electromechanical MicroTester actuators and two four-axis FastTrack 8800 digital controllers.
  • Video-based strain control system: Measures strain by tracking markers on specimen and controls the actuators based on this strain.
  • Rapid imaging polarimeter: Provides pixel-wise alignment maps of loaded tissue.

 

Range

Accuracy

Resolution

Displacement

110 mm

0.1 μm

0.05 μm

Load Cell Set 1

5 N

0.05% of reading

0.05 N

Load Cell Set 2

500 N

0.05% of reading

5 N

Accessories

  • Temperature-controlled saline bath to ensure sample hydration.

  • Vibration isolation table.

  • Canon Eos Rebel T3i camera with 100 mm f2.8 macro lens to capture video.

  • Clamps with adjustable grip pressure.

Specifications

Maximum ramp rate: 15.70 mm per second.

Applications

  • Planar mechanical testing.

  • Uniaxial, equibiaxial, and non-uniform biaxial loading.

  • Determine mechano-structural properties of soft tissues.

  • Dynamic characterization of viscoelastic properties.

  • Multiple simultaneous uniaxial testing (up to four independent actuators and two functional independent uniaxial test stations).

  • Assess reorientation of fibers during mechanical loading.

More About the Tissue Mechanics Laboratory