Typical commercial silkworm silk from Bombyx mori cocoons exhibits a high tensile strength of about 0.5 gigapascals (GPa), coupled with significant elasticity and toughness.
Based on research into the mechanical properties of silk, particularly from the common silkworm Bombyx mori, the strength can be quantified by several key metrics:
- Tensile Strength: This measures the maximum stress a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. For typical commercial silkworm silk, the tensile strength is around 0.5 GPa. To put this into perspective, 0.5 GPa is equivalent to 500 million Pascals, indicating the material's ability to bear substantial pulling forces relative to its cross-sectional area.
- Breaking Elongation: This indicates how much a material can stretch before it breaks, expressed as a percentage of its original length. Silkworm silk has a breaking elongation of approximately 15%. This elasticity contributes to its ability to absorb energy.
- Breaking Energy (Toughness): This measures the energy a material can absorb before fracturing, often described as its toughness or resilience. For silkworm silk, the breaking energy is reported as 6 × 10⁴ J kg⁻¹. This value represents the amount of energy required to break a kilogram of the silk material, highlighting its capacity to withstand impact or sudden stress without immediate failure.
These properties collectively define the strength and resilience of silkworm silk.
Here's a summary of the key mechanical properties according to the reference:
| Property | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile Strength | About 0.5 | GPa |
| Breaking Elongation | 15 | % |
| Breaking Energy | 6 × 10⁴ | J kg⁻¹ |
This data is derived from studies focusing on Bombyx mori silk, commonly used in textile production.
Reference:
Surprising strength of silkworm silk - Nature www.nature.com (Source text provided in prompt: Surprising strength of silkworm silk - Nature www.nature.com › articles /url?q=https://www.nature.com/articles/418741a&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwijko2wpNKJAxVv87sIHRvlHY4QFnoECAMQDQ&usg=AOvVaw36MBkMt7HRtNO9u25ss4ym)
