Measurement of the fracture toughness of extensible connective tissues

A tear test was found to be suitable for determining the fracture toughness of two extensible connective tissues: rat skin and the mesogloea of the sea anemone Metridium senile. This technique allows the mapping of toughness variations over an area of rat skin. The toughness bears an inverse relationship to maximum stiffness parallel to the direction of crack propagation. Toughness of rat skin increases slightly with increasing extension rate.

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