3.2. Tensile tests
Overhand micro slip-knots (scheme shown in Fig. 4d) with one
or two loops were then added to each of the threads, with each type
of thread having a manually prepared loose, medium, or tight micro
slip-knot. A SEM image is shown in Fig. 4e, where a single micro
slip-knot is made by the thread starting at the top-right hand
corner and ending at the bottom-left corner. A micro slip-knot with
two loops was used when making tight slip-knots since a single
loop slip-knot would loosen after it was tightened.
As previously, for tensile testing of CNT fibres, the ends of each
fibre were glued onto a paper frame and experiments were conducted
in an Instron tensile testing machine at a strain rate
of 5 mm/min and using an active gauge length of 10 mm. All
measurements were performed on threads from the same array