Abstract
WHEN wool fibres of uniform cross-sectional area are stretched extremely slowly in saturated air at 18° C., they break at 70 per cent extension1. Confined in its early stages to the amorphous regions of the fibre, extension occurs by the transformation of the crystalline phase from the α- to the Î-configuration at extensions above about 25 per cent2. It has been found possible to disentangle these two processes, and obtain a closer insight into the α-Î-transformation process, by studying the extension of wool fibres under constant stress3 in saturated air at low temperatures. Under a stress of 6·89 × 105 gm./cm.2 at 21° C., for example, the immediate extension of the fibre (3 minutes after the application of stress) was 19·4 per cent, rising to 30·2 per cent after 300 minutes and 68·4 per cent after 18,682 minutes. As might be expected, there is an exponential approach to the limiting extension of 70 per cent, as shown in the accompanying figure, where log (70 âE) is plotted against time.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Speakman, J. Text. Inst., 17, T457 (1926).
Astbury and Street, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., A, 230, 75 (1931). Astbury and Woods, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., A, 232, 333 (1933).
Speakman, J. Text. Inst., 17, T472 (1926).
Astbury and Bell, Nature, 147, 696 (1941).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SPEAKMAN, J. Structure of the Keratin Molecule. Nature 159, 338 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159338a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159338a0
This article is cited by
-
The examination and interpretation of the properties of fibres using rheological measurements on non-uniform fibres
Rheologica Acta (1974)
-
Measurement of Creep in Keratin Fibres
Nature (1962)
-
Plasticity of Wool
Nature (1952)
-
Plasticity of Wool
Nature (1950)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.