A lesson for structural engineers

While researchers have long known of the incredible strength of spider silk, the robust nature of the tiny filaments cannot alone explain how webs survive multiple tears and winds that exceed hurricane strength.

Now, a study that combines experimental observations of spider webs with complex computer simulations shows that web durability depends not only on silk strength, but on how the overall web design compensates for damage and the response of individual strands to continuously varying stresses.

Engineered structures are typically designed to withstand large loads with limited damage, but extreme loads are more difficult to account for. The spider has uniquely solved this problem by allowing a sacrificial member to fail under high load. One of the first questions a structural engineer must ask is ‘What is the design load?' For a spider web, however, it doesn't matter if the load is just strong enough to cause failure, or one hundred times higher--the net effect is the same. Allowing a sacrificial member to fail removes the unpredictability of 'extreme' loads from the design equation."

For detailed information on NSF-supported research elsewhere in Massachusetts, see results for Massachusetts on Research.gov.

Ref: NSF Press Release 12-016:  A Spider Web's Strength Lies in More Than its Silk

*