The torsional properties of spider dragline silks from Nephila edulis and Nephila pilipes spiders are investigated by using a torsion pendulum technique. A permanent torsional deformation is observed after even small torsional strain. This behaviour is quite different from that of the other materials tested here, i.e., carbon fiber, thin metallic wires, Kevlar fiber, and human hair. The spider dragline thus displays a strong energy dissipation upon the initial excitation (around 75% for small strains and more for a larger strain), which correspondingly reduces the amplitude of subsequent oscillations around the new equilibrium position. The variation of torsional stiffness in relaxation dynamics of spider draglines for different excitations is also determined. The experimental result is interpreted in the light of the hierarchical structure of dragline silk.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
3 July 2017
Research Article|
July 05 2017
Peculiar torsion dynamical response of spider dragline silk
Dabiao Liu;
Dabiao Liu
1
Department of Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
, Wuhan 430074, China
2
Hubei Key Laboratory of Engineering Structural Analysis and Safety Assessment
, Wuhan 430074, China
3
School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London
, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
Search for other works by this author on:
Longteng Yu;
Longteng Yu
1
Department of Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
, Wuhan 430074, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Yuming He;
Yuming He
a)
1
Department of Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
, Wuhan 430074, China
2
Hubei Key Laboratory of Engineering Structural Analysis and Safety Assessment
, Wuhan 430074, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Kai Peng;
Kai Peng
1
Department of Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
, Wuhan 430074, China
2
Hubei Key Laboratory of Engineering Structural Analysis and Safety Assessment
, Wuhan 430074, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Jie Liu;
Jie Liu
4
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-Resources, College of Life Sciences, Hubei University
, Wuhan 430062, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Juan Guan;
Juan Guan
5
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University
, Beijing 100191, China
Search for other works by this author on:
D. J. Dunstan
D. J. Dunstan
3
School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London
, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 013701 (2017)
Article history
Received:
February 03 2017
Accepted:
April 28 2017
Citation
Dabiao Liu, Longteng Yu, Yuming He, Kai Peng, Jie Liu, Juan Guan, D. J. Dunstan; Peculiar torsion dynamical response of spider dragline silk. Appl. Phys. Lett. 3 July 2017; 111 (1): 013701. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4990676
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Roadmap on photonic metasurfaces
Sebastian A. Schulz, Rupert. F. Oulton, et al.
Broadband transparency in terahertz free-standing anapole metasurface
Isaac Appiah Otoo, Alexey Basharin, et al.
Related Content
Spider web-inspired acoustic metamaterials
Appl. Phys. Lett. (August 2016)
Fatigueless response of spider draglines in cyclic torsion facilitated by reversible molecular deformation
Appl. Phys. Lett. (November 2014)
Comparative study of the internal structures of Kevlar and spider silk by atomic force microscopy
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (July 1994)
Note: Adhesive stamp electrodes using spider silk masks for electronic transport measurements of supra-micron sized samples
Rev. Sci. Instrum. (April 2012)
A comparison of protein extraction methods suitable for gel-based proteomic studies of spider silk proteins
AIP Conference Proceedings (May 2021)