Dynamic interactions between nematic point defects in the spinning extrusion duct of spiders

Abstract

Spider silk fibers have remarkable mechanical properties as a result of an ultraoptimized spinning process. Silk fibers are spun from a lyotropic nematic liquid crystalline anisotropic fluid phase which undergoes significant structural changes throughout the spinning pathway. In the silk extrusion duct, those structural changes are expected to be driven by elastic-mediated interactions between point defects. In this work, the interaction between two point defects of opposite topological charges located on the axis of a cylindrical cavity is studied using a tensor order parameter formalism. Distinct regimes leading to defect annihilation and structural transitions are described in detail. The driving force setting the defects into motion is also examined. The different results suggest that the tensorial approach is primordial in describing the complicated physics of the problem. The phenomenon described is important to the understanding of the process-induced structuring of silk fibers and to defect physics in a more general context. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.