Shear-induced rigidity in spider silk glands

Kristie J. Koski; Keri McKiernan; Paul Akhenblit; Jeffery Yarger

doi:10.1063/1.4751842

Shear-induced rigidity in spider silk glands

Kristie J. Koski, Keri McKiernan, Paul Akhenblit, Jeffery Yarger

Molecular Sciences, School of (SMS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

We measure the elastic stiffnesses of the concentrated viscous protein solution of the dehydrated Nephila clavipes major ampullate gland with Brillouin light scattering. The glandular material shows no rigidity but possesses a tensile stiffness similar to that of spider silk. We show, however, that with application of a simple static shear, the mechanical properties of the spider gland protein mixture can be altered irreversibly, lowering symmetry and enabling shear waves to be supported, thus, giving rise to rigidity and yielding elastic properties similar to those of the naturally spun (i.e., dynamically sheared) silk.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	103701
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	101
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4751842
State	Published - Sep 3 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1063/1.4751842

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title = "Shear-induced rigidity in spider silk glands",

abstract = "We measure the elastic stiffnesses of the concentrated viscous protein solution of the dehydrated Nephila clavipes major ampullate gland with Brillouin light scattering. The glandular material shows no rigidity but possesses a tensile stiffness similar to that of spider silk. We show, however, that with application of a simple static shear, the mechanical properties of the spider gland protein mixture can be altered irreversibly, lowering symmetry and enabling shear waves to be supported, thus, giving rise to rigidity and yielding elastic properties similar to those of the naturally spun (i.e., dynamically sheared) silk.",

author = "Koski, {Kristie J.} and Keri McKiernan and Paul Akhenblit and Jeffery Yarger",

note = "Funding Information: Professor J. L. Yarger would like to acknowledge spider silk research support from the Department of Defense, AFOSR (FA9550-10-1-0275) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (DMR-0805197 and CHE-1011937). The authors would like to thank Janelle Jenkins for shearing the gland specimens.",

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doi = "10.1063/1.4751842",

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AU - Koski, Kristie J.

AU - McKiernan, Keri

AU - Akhenblit, Paul

AU - Yarger, Jeffery

N1 - Funding Information: Professor J. L. Yarger would like to acknowledge spider silk research support from the Department of Defense, AFOSR (FA9550-10-1-0275) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (DMR-0805197 and CHE-1011937). The authors would like to thank Janelle Jenkins for shearing the gland specimens.

PY - 2012/9/3

Y1 - 2012/9/3

N2 - We measure the elastic stiffnesses of the concentrated viscous protein solution of the dehydrated Nephila clavipes major ampullate gland with Brillouin light scattering. The glandular material shows no rigidity but possesses a tensile stiffness similar to that of spider silk. We show, however, that with application of a simple static shear, the mechanical properties of the spider gland protein mixture can be altered irreversibly, lowering symmetry and enabling shear waves to be supported, thus, giving rise to rigidity and yielding elastic properties similar to those of the naturally spun (i.e., dynamically sheared) silk.

AB - We measure the elastic stiffnesses of the concentrated viscous protein solution of the dehydrated Nephila clavipes major ampullate gland with Brillouin light scattering. The glandular material shows no rigidity but possesses a tensile stiffness similar to that of spider silk. We show, however, that with application of a simple static shear, the mechanical properties of the spider gland protein mixture can be altered irreversibly, lowering symmetry and enabling shear waves to be supported, thus, giving rise to rigidity and yielding elastic properties similar to those of the naturally spun (i.e., dynamically sheared) silk.

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Shear-induced rigidity in spider silk glands

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