QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online July 6, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 2633-2639 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01701

This Article Summary Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pérez-Rigueiro, J. Articles by Guinea, G. V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pérez-Rigueiro, J. Articles by Guinea, G. V.

The effect of spinning forces on spider silk properties

J. Pérez-Rigueiro, M. Elices^*, G. Plaza, J. I. Real and G. V. Guinea

Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, ETS de Ingenieros de Caminos, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

View larger version (23K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Typical stress–strain curves of forcibly silked (FS), naturally spun (NS) and maximum supercontracted fibres (MS) tested in air.

View larger version (80K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Experimental set-up of the monitored forced silking process. The immobilized spider (a) is placed upside down, and the tip of the fibre (b) is fixed with a magnet (c) to the load cell (d). The silking process proceeds by displacing the crosshead of the testing machine at constant speed.

View larger version (18K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Silking force and tensile properties of fibres retrieved from a forced silking process characterized by high and constant silking force. (A) Silking force vs position along the silk fibre obtained from a silking process at 10 mm s–1 reeling speed. The numbered intervals identify the samples shown in B and C. (B) Force–displacement curves of the silk samples obtained in the forced silking process shown in A. Base length=20 mm. For A and B, nominal reeling/test conditions were T=20°C, relative humidity=40%. (C) Stress–strain curves obtained by re-scaling the force–displacement curves in B using the individual cross-section of each sample. In B and C, samples are identified by a number, indicating the reeling interval in which they were spun, as labelled in A. NS, naturally spun fibres; FS, forcibly silked fibres; MS, maximum supercontracted fibres.

View larger version (25K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Silking force and tensile properties of fibres retrieved from a forced silking process characterized by high and variable silking force. (A) Silking force vs position along the silk fibre obtained from a silking process at 1 mm s–1 reeling speed. The numbered intervals identify the samples shown in B and C. (B) Force–displacement curves of the silk samples obtained in the forced silking process shown in A. Base length=20 mm. For A and B, nominal reeling/test conditions were T=20°C, relative humidity=40%. (C) Stress–strain curves obtained by re-scaling the force–displacement curves in B using the individual cross-section of each sample. In B and C, samples are identified by a number, indicating the reeling interval in which they were spun, as labelled in A. NS, naturally spun fibres; FS, forcibly silked fibres; MS, maximum supercontracted fibres.

View larger version (21K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Silking force and tensile properties of fibres retrieved from a forced silking process characterized by low silking force. (A) Silking force vs position along the silk fibre obtained from a silking process at 1 mm s–1 reeling speed. The numbered intervals identify the samples shown in B and C. (B) Force–displacement curves of the silk samples obtained in the forced silking process shown in A. Base length=20 mm. For A and B, nominal reeling/test conditions were T=20°C, relative humidity=40%. (C) Stress–strain curves obtained by re-scaling the force–displacement curves in B using the individual cross-section of each sample. The upper and lower limits of the range of tensile properties exhibited by naturally spun (NS) fibres, and the stress–strain plots of maximum supercontracted (MS) fibres and typical forcibly silked (FS) fibres are plotted as dotted lines to allow comparison. In B and C, samples are identified by a number, indicating the reeling interval in which they were spun, as labelled in A.

View larger version (17K): [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Silking force and tensile properties of fibres retrieved from a forced silking process characterized by very low silking force. (A) Silking force vs position along the silk fibre obtained from a silking process at 1 mm s–1 reeling speed. The numbered intervals identify the samples shown in B and C. (B) Force–displacement curves of the silk samples obtained in the forced silking process shown in A. Base length=20 mm. For A and B, nominal reeling/test conditions were T=20°C, relative humidity=40%. (C) Stress–strain curves obtained by re-scaling the force–displacement curves in B using the individual cross-section of each sample. The upper and lower limits of the range of tensile properties exhibited by naturally spun (NS) fibres, and the stress–strain plots of maximum supercontracted (MS) fibres and typical forcibly silked (FS) fibres are plotted as dotted lines to allow comparison. In B and C, samples are identified by a number, indicating the reeling interval in which they were spun, as labelled in A.