In the fly fishing world, they are expected to provide high strength to withstand the pull of the fighting fish, while exhibiting low visibility and low bending stiffness to deceive the quarry. Being very flexible, the actual bending stiffness is not quantified, though, leading to much speculation and conjecture. A study was undertaken to measure the bending stiffness of different fishing leaders of small diameter. An apparatus was built to measure, photographically, cantilevered segments of leader material as they deflected under their own weight. The major difficulty was accounting for the initial curvature of the leader due to memory.
Results show significant differences among and between common leader materials.
S.T. Phillips, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Van trailers are subjected to heavy loads when used to transport rolls of paper. Permanent deformations have been found on cross beams of trailers that have been in service for three of four years. Strain gages were mounted on the longitudinal aluminum extrusions of the trailer frame. Strain gages were also mounted on the steel floor cross members. The trailer was loaded with rolls of paper and then pulled on the highway for about two hours.