title: What's inside the box? - Length-scales that govern fracture processes of polymer fibers.
abstract: This work shows that multiple length-scales must be considered concurrently to explain a polymer fiber's impressive mechanical performance and resilience. The considerations of interatomic interactions alone cannot explain the fracture strength observed in biological fibers. Instead, the fracture strength of a fiber depends strongly on the length-scale of observation, including a fiber's sensitivity with respect to cracks and other flaws.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Mass. Ave. Room 1-235A&B, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Tristan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giesa
authors.forename: Nicola M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Pugno
authors.forename: Joyce Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Markus J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Buehler
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004548:Elasticity; D008954:Models, Biological; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry; D013112:Spiders; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D047011:Silk
keywords: failure; fiber; fracture mechanics; hierarchical materials; mechanical properties; nanostructure; process zone; silk