Team:UCLA/Notebook/Materials/15 July 2015

• HOME
• TEAM
• PROJECTS
  • Silk Genetics
  • Functionalization
  • Materials Processing
  • Protein Cages
• PARTS
  • Team Parts
  • Basic Parts
  • Composite Parts
  • Part Collection
• NOTEBOOKS
  • Spider Silk Genetics
  • Honeybee Silk
  • Recombinant Silk Functionalization
  • Materials Processing
  • Protein Cages
  • UCLA Measurement Interlab Study
• MEETING NOTES
  • General Meetings
  • Coordinator Meetings
  • Advisor Meetings
• ATTRIBUTIONS
• COLLABORATIONS
• HUMAN PRACTICES
• SAFETY
• MODELING
• MEASUREMENT STUDY
• SOFTWARE
• ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Preparing fibers for Instron testing
  • cut 25mm x 25mm cardstock squares
  • in the squares, cut a 10mm long hole to create a frame
  • Lay down some black tape on the inside of a PDMS mold (which happens to be 25mm x 25mm as well)
  • place the frame on top of the PDMS mold
  • place epoxy glue on the sides of the frame
  • Lay down a single fiber across the frame
  • place another layer of cardstock on the epoxy glue to cover the fiber.
  • allow epoxy to cure for at least 24 hours

• Today, we ran Instron tests on natural b.mori silk fibers.
  • some challenges in the Instron testing:
    • it's near impossible to get the fibers to be perfectly straight in the Instron
      • very difficult to lay down the fiber so that it is flat on the tab
      • when cutting the tab margins, sometimes the fiber is shifted at an angle in the Instron
    • sometimes when laying down the fiber, it is not taut, and so you are actually tabbing a longer length of fiber than the length of the window.

• tabbed some of yesterday's fibers for Instron testing.
  • labeled Tam 1, Tam 2, ... Tam 5.