Characterization of Dynamic Parameters of a Structure Made Of Spider Silk Dragline
Jorge Alencastre, Jorge Vera Mechan, José Luis Muñoz, Javier Echavarri

Abstract
The aim of the research was to determine the dynamic parameters of the structure made of spider silk, addressing the topic from an analytical-experimental perspective. The physical structure made of spider silk is meant to copy an original and natural spider web as a special class of prestressed systems called equitensional structures. A conceptual model was developed, composed of silk threads which reach one each other and a point mass at that intersection, which analytically describes in a roughly way, the dynamic behavior of the structure made by the spiders silk gland producer “Major ampullate” (MA). Using free vibration techniques, two experiments were performed. Comparisons between analytical and experimental values obtained show a great coincidence in relation to the natural frequencies of the system, with minor errors than 2% for the fundamental frequency. Intrinsic damping capacities of the structure and silk’s viscosity were also determined. Based on the results, it is concluded that the main function of the spider web is to convert the kinetic energy deformation energy and especially dissipative energy, thanks to the silk’s viscoelastic properties.

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