PSI - Issue 28

Shirsha Bose et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 28 (2020) 843–849 S.Bose et. al/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

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Fig. 1. SENT samples prepared from collagen film

2.3. Experimental Set-up Fracture testing was performed on SENT specimens using an Instron 5944 system equipped with a temperature controlled Bio-Puls Bath (Instron 3130-100 Bio-Puls Bath, Instron, USA) (Fig. 2). Pneumatic grips with rubber straps were used to clamp the specimens. The force was recorded with a 500-N load cell, while the crosshead displacement of the machine was employed to obtain the required level of deformation. A high-resolution camera was placed perpendicular to the tested specimen to record the change in the deformational behaviour.

Fig. 2. Experimental set-up with Bio-Bath system for in-aqua test

SENT specimens were subjected to in-air and in-aqua conditions to investigate the effect of environment on fracture of notched specimens (see Table 1). The thickness of Col D films ranged around 50 ± 10 µm while that of Col A was about 75 ± 15 µm (after pre-conditioning) as a results of water intake. For each condition, specimens (n=7) were subjected to intermediate strain-rate of 0.001 s -1 until failure at room temperature. All the results were statistically analyzed and reported as mean ± S.D. (standard deviation).

Table 1. SENT specimens subjected to different environmental conditions Specimen Name Testing Environment Pre-conditioning Col D In-air - Col A In-aqua

Pre-hydrated in water for 10 minutes