Introduction
Natural and synthetic ? bers are used
in many products including fabric,
insulation, and composite materials.
Often, the mechanical properties of
the ? bers dictate the performance and
longevity of the products in which they
are used. Generally, it is not suf? cient to
assume that a ? ber will have the same
strength as a larger specimen of the
same material. This is especially true
for metals, because strength depends
directly on grain size, and grain size
depends on geometric constraints.
So for its size, a thin metal wire will
generally be stronger than a large
specimen of the same material, because
the wire has smaller grains. Some
polymers also manifest size-dependent
strengthening mechanisms [1].
Therefore, the ability to measure
the mechanical properties of ? bers
is essential for their successful
incorporation into products. This article
describes experimental method and
results for three prototypical ? bers: a
basalt glass ? ber, a ? ne tungsten wire,
and polypropylene.