Citation
A. Kabla and L. Mahadevan
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 4(12):99-106 (2007)
Abstract
Abstract
Mechanical networks of fibres arise on a range of scales in nature and technology, from the cytoskeleton of a cell to blood clots, from textiles and felts to skin and collageneous tissues. Their collective response is dependent on the individual response of the constituent filaments as well as the density and topology and order in the network. Here we use the example of a low density synthetic felt of athermal filaments to study the generic features of the mechanical response of such networks including strain stiffening and negative normal stress effects. A simple microscopic model allows us to explain these features of our observations, and provides us with a baseline framework to understand active biomechanical networks.
Figure sample
Structure and response of a soft mechanical network. (a) Typical piece of felt. (b) A single polyester fibre (length 7 cm, diameter 30 μm). (c) Response to a uniform strain rate (Inline Formula) showing tension versus strain curve. (d) Areal response A(ϵ)/A(0) versus strain ϵ. The increase in the area observed as the felt breaks is due to the felt relaxing back to its initial area as the global tensile stress goes back to zero. (e–g) Width of the felt strip for various imposed strains.
