Mechanical Properties of Transgenic Silkworm Silk Under High Strain Rate Tensile Loading

摘要

AbstractStudies have shown that transgenic silkworm silk may be capable of having similar properties of spider silk while being mass-producible. In this research, the tensile stress–strain response of transgenic silkworm silk fiber is systematically characterized using a quasi-static load frame and a tension Kolsky bar over a range of strain-rates between$$10^{-3}$$10-3and 700/s. The results show that transgenic silkworm silk tends to have higher overall ultimate stress and failure strain at high strain rate (700/s) compared to quasi-static strain rates, indicating rate sensitivity of the material. The failure strain at the high strain rate is higher than that of spider silk. However, the stress levels are significantly below that of spider silk, and far below that of high-performance fiber. Failure surfaces are examined via scanning electron microscopy and reveal that the failure modes are similar to those of spider silk.]]>