Page 240 - Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

214 Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

A key factor for the exceptional level of the combination of strength and toughness
of spider silk can be attributed to the liquid crystalline nature as reflected in the
intrinsic viscoelastic behavior of the silk. Experimental observations over a broad
spectrum of stress, strain, and frequency levels showed that spider silk is nonlinearly
viscoelastic with strain insensitive hysteresis characteristics. On the basis of these
experimental observations a generalized constitutive relationship was postulated in
terms of a quasilinear viscoelastic model. This model provides a convenient means
to quantify the stress-strain-time behavior of spider silk.

Acknowledgments

This support of Canada Foundation of Innovation (CFI) and NSERC through the Discovery
Grant are greatly appreciated. This chapter is dedicated to our colleague the late Professor
John Gosline who pioneered the study of spider silk and the mechanical properties of
biomaterials.

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