Nano/Micro Mechanical Environmental Test Cell

A device and method have been developed to conduct compression and tensile tests on soft materials such as flocculated sediments, biopolymers, biological materials, and food stuffs. The device facilitates compression tests of small particles in the 10- to 5,000-micron range in the exact aqueous environmental conditions (e.g. pH, salinity, elevation) in which the sample is typically found. The device enables real-time imaging of the deformation process, and is compatible with a variety of commercially available test frames and load cells.