Abstract
The relationship between the amount of supercontraction at the end of the first and final stages of a wool fibre in concentrated lithium bromide, and the mechanical properties of the fibre at these stages in the lithium bromide solution can be explained in terms of a simple structural model. This model requires two types of zones of different thermal stability along the microfibrils in the wool keratin. One of these zones representing about 36% of the microfibril unfolds unimpeded by bulky side chains, and the remaining 64% may be unfolded by overcoming steric hindrance and causing irreversible breakdown of bonds. This zone model can be used to explain the load-extension behaviour of single wool fibres. Further it may be applied to other mechanical behaviour such as creep in the yield and post-yield regions and also the second order transition temperature that has been observed in stretched wool fibres in water.
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