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Micromechanical model for protein materials: from macromolecules to macroscopic fibers

Puglisi, G.
; 
De Tommasi, D.
; 
Pantano, M. F.
; 
Pugno, N. M.
; 
Saccomandi, G.
Identifiers
http://hdl.handle.net/10379/13533
 https://doi.org/10.13025/26619
Publication Date
2017-10-11
Keywords
spider dragline silk, mechanical-properties, elasticity, toughness, strength, domains, design, force, nanoconfinement, deformation
Type
Article
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Citation
Puglisi, G. De Tommasi, D.; Pantano, M. F.; Pugno, N. M.; Saccomandi, G. (2017). Micromechanical model for protein materials: from macromolecules to macroscopic fibers. Physical Review E 96 (4),
Abstract
We propose a model for the mechanical behavior of protein materials. Based on a limited number of experimental macromolecular parameters (persistence and contour length) we obtain the macroscopic behavior of keratin fibers (human, cow, and rabbit hair), taking into account the damage and residual stretches effects that are fundamental in many functions of life. We also show the capability of our approach to describe the main dissipation and permanent strain effects observed in the more complex spider silk fibers. The comparison between our results and the data obtained experimentally from cyclic tests demonstrates that our model is robust and is able to reproduce with a remarkable accuracy the experimental behavior of all protein materials we tested.
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Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland
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Externally hosted open access publications with University of Galway authors (2)