2005 年 61 巻 1 号 p. 1-5
The tensile properties of skin in vivo and in vitro were investigated experimentally. The uniaxial and biaxial extension properties of the back of a hand in vivo and chicken skin in vitro are measured in detail by using a fine tensile tester. We found that their initial properties characteristically have extreme nonlinearity and hysteresis. These properties are similar to the properties of fiber assemblies, that is, woven and knitted fabrics used for clothing materials. The stress relaxation of chicken skin in vitro was also investigated. The results show the strain and temperature dependence of these properties. These properties of skin should be considered as basic data related to the materials of products used in close contact with the human skin, for example, clothing materials.