Natural stiffening increases flaw tolerance of biological fibers
Name
Giesa-2012-Natural stiffening increases flaw tolerance of biological fibers.pdf
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714.28 KB
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Author(s)
Giesa, Tristan
Pugno, Nicola M.
Buehler, Markus J
Date Issued
October 2012
Journal
Physical Review E
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Giesa, Tristan, Nicola Pugno, and Markus J. Buehler. “Natural Stiffening Increases Flaw Tolerance of Biological Fibers.” Physical Review E 86.4 (2012). © 2012 American Physical Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Many fibers in biomaterials such as tendon, elastin, or silk feature a nonlinear stiffening behavior of the stress-strain relationship, where the rigidity of the material increases severely as the material is being stretched. Here we show that such nonlinear stiffening is beneficial for a fiber's ability to withstand cracks, leading to a flaw tolerant state in which stress concentrations around cracks are diminished. Our findings, established by molecular mechanics and the derivation of a theoretical scaling law, explain experimentally observed fiber sizes in a range of biomaterials and point to the importance of nonlinear stiffening to enhance their fracture properties. Our study suggests that nonlinear stiffening provides a mechanism by which nanoscale mechanical properties can be scaled up, providing a means towards bioinspired fibrous material and structural design.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Computational Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.041902
