Biaxial tension test of soft materials

Abstract

A specific loading machine is designed and fabricated to test the constitutive properties of soft materials by biaxial tension in this study. The finite element model under ABAQUS is launched to simulate the biaxial tension of a squared specimen, and it is verified by a theoretical model. Using the finite elements model, the effects of clamping conditions of the squared samples, including the clamping width, clamping depth, and clamping numbers, are systematically studied, which helps improve future machine design. The comparison of numerical results with experimental results is conducted by equibiaxial test and pure shear test. Finally, a novel testing procedure is suggested with the combination of numerical simulation and practical experiments to enhance the testing result.