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Mechanical Properties of the Lobster Cuticle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

D. Raabe  and
C. Sachs
D. Raabe
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Max-Planck-Str. 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany
C. Sachs
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Max-Planck-Str. 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Abstract

We present experiments on the mechanical and structural gradients through the cuticle of homarus americanus (lobster). The exocuticle (outer layer) is characterized by a very fine woven structure of the chitin-protein matrix (Bouligand structure) and by a high stiffness (8.5–9.5 GPa). The hardness increases within the exocuticle between the surface region (130 MPa) and the region close to the interface to the endocuticle (270 MPa). In the endocuticle which is characterized by a much coarser twisted plywood (Bouligand) structure both, the stiffness (3–4.5 GPa) and hardness (30–55 MPa) are much smaller than in the exocuticle. The transition in mechanical properties and structure between the exo- and endocuticle is abrupt.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 874: Symposium l – Structure and Mechanical Behavior of Biological Materials , 2005 , L5.3
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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