Bike Brake Cable Testing

The team performed analysis on two types of bike brake cables in order to determine their stress strain curves using an MTS materials testing machine.  We’ll be continuing testing with the 0.064" diameter, as it withstood almost 300 lbf, and we’ll be expecting loads of 180 lbf in the suit.

These tests were conducted by simply gripping the bike cables in the MTS machine.  However, the given yield strengths are less than predicted – by gripping on the actual cable, there is increased stress at these points.  Further testing will be done with a gripping style setup, possibly by using set screw attachments.