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A spider web's strength lies in more than its silk
Date:2/1/2012

out stretching as the proteins unfold; a stiffening phase that absorbs the greatest amount of force; and then a final, stick-slip phase before the silk breaks.

According to the researchers' findings, the failure of silk threads occurs at points where the filament is disturbed by that external force, but after failure, the web returns to stability even in simulations using broad forces, like hurricane-force winds.

"Engineered structures are typically designed to withstand large loads with limited damage but extreme loads are more difficult to account for," says Cranford. "The spider has uniquely solved this problem by allowing a sacrificial member to fail under high load. One of the first questions a structural engineer must ask is 'What is the design load?' For a spider web, however, it doesn't matter if the load is just strong enough to cause failure, or one hundred times higher the net effect is the same. Allowing a sacrificial member to fail removes the unpredictability of 'extreme' loads from the design equation."


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Contact: Josh Chamot
jchamot@nsf.gov
703-292-7730
National Science Foundation
Source:Eurekalert

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