Why Clothes Don't Fall Apart: Tension Transmission in Staple Yarns
Abstract
The problem of how staple yarns transmit tension is addressed within abstract models in which the Amontons-Coulomb friction laws yield a linear programing (LP) problem for the tensions in the fiber elements. We find there is a percolation transition such that above the percolation threshold the transmitted tension is in principle unbounded. We determine that the mean slack in the LP constraints is a suitable order parameter to characterize this supercritical state. We argue the mechanism is generic, and in practical terms, it corresponds to a switch from a ductile to a brittle failure mode accompanied by a significant increase in mechanical strength.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- April 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.158001
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1804.07606
- Bibcode:
- 2018PhRvL.120o8001W
- Keywords:
-
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
- E-Print:
- 6 pages (main text + supplemental), 5 figures, 1 table