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Spider web robustness: uses in research

Also: web mechanics

How spider webs survive damage by sacrificing single threads.

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  1. 2012 Nonlinear silk makes webs robust

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materials science

lab materials science 2012

Nonlinear silk makes webs robust

Cranford and colleagues showed silk's softening then stiffening under strain localizes damage to single threads, making webs robust.

As reported in: Cranford, Tarakanova, Pugno et al. (2012). Nonlinear material behaviour of spider silk yields robust webs. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature10739

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