The tensile testing machine applied in the study of human nerve rupture: a preliminary study.

A tensile testing machine was used to provoke lesions of fixed and unfixed brachial plexus nerves. The forces and mechanical work were measured before and during rupture. Fixed nerves resist continued tensile forces better than unfixed nerves do. Increasing the speed of the tensile forces results in a decrease of the extension a brachial plexus nerve can withstand. The mechanical work needed to start rupture is equal to the mechanical work used to complete rupture of the nerve.