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Study on the Mechanical Properties of Different Silkworm Silk Fibers

Department of Mechanical Engineering The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, karen.chy{at}polyu.edu.hk, karen.chy{at}gmail.com

Kin-Tak Lau

Department of Mechanical Engineering The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, Centre for Excellence in Engineered Fibre Composites, Faculty of Engineering and Surveying, The University of Southern Queensland, QLD, Australia

Mei-Po Ho

Department of Mechanical Engineering The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong

Ayman Mosallam

Structural Engineering Testing Hall, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2175, USA

Mechanical properties of Bombyx mori, twisted B. mori, and Tussah silk fibers were investigated. Their ultimate tensile strength, elongation at break, and Young’s modulus were examined by performing a uniaxial tensile test on a single fiber. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the morphology of two different types of silk fiber, and to measure their apparent diameters from which the cross-sectional area of the silk fiber for stress-strain analysis can be determined. Based on experimental results obtained, it was found that Tussah silk fiber has a relatively high extensibility as compared to B. mori silk fiber and other natural fibers. Weibull analysis was also used to quantify tensile strength reproducibility of the silk fiber. Both single and twisted B. mori silk fibers have a better reproducibility of tensile properties than Tussah silk fiber.

Key Words: silkworm silk fiber • mechanical properties • Weibull analysis • surface analysis.

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 43, No. 22, 2521-2531 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0021998309345347


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