Taking a lead from mussels to create durable stretchiness

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by taneepak, Apr 24, 2009.

  1. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    In the world of materials, stiffness and stretchiness are usually incompatible. This is particularly true about carbon fibers used to make racquets, where a very stiff material will shatter easily, and a very strong and stretchy material will have low tensile modulus.
    A hard material will crack when you try to stretch it, while a stretchy material will be anything but stiff.
    But mussels seem to have figured out how to be stiff and stretchy. Their byssal threads-the fibers that attach them to rocks and other surfaces-have a protective coating, or cuticle, that can stretch up to 70% without cracking. Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara, have been studying the structures of these coated fibers and have discovered that among other things, what enables the cuticles to stretch are deformable granules that stop tiny cracks from getting bigger. The findings may help in the development of biomimetic coatings for medical implants or idustrial devices. Or maybe, racquets.
     
  2. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i believe the technical term is not stretchiness, but "toughness". the opposite of "tough" is brittle.
     
  3. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    Yes, being extremely stiff makes it brittle and being extremely tough is very high tensile strength.
     

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