Page 71 - Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

52 Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

at a constant temperature, within the hot zone. The overall creep observed is the sum of
all the contributions. The technique has been used to determine the creep behavior of
many different types of ceramic fibers (Simon and Bunsell, 1984; Lavaste et al., 1995).
A particularly efficient way of testing electrically conducting fibers, such as carbon
fibers, at high temperature involves passing an electric current through the fiber under

vacuum. The temperature of the fiber can be raised to above 2000 C while the grips
holding the fiber remain at room temperature. This is because of the small mass of
the fiber compared to that of the grips. Tensile and creep data can be obtained in
this way without the complication of a varying temperature profile within a furnace
(Sauder et al., 2004).

2.6 Conclusion

Fibers are very fine forms of matter and require special techniques for their character-
ization. Although used since time immemorial, it is only in the last few decades that
controlled tests and observations of fibers have become possible. However, special
mechanical testing machines, coupled with techniques, such as SEM and Raman spec-
troscopy, now allow extremely detailed knowledge to be obtained about the relation-
ships between structure and properties enabling fibers to be optimized and their full
potential be better understood.

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