A constitutive model for modeling the mechanical behavior of the peltate leaf of Stephania japonica (Menispermaceae)

Abstract

AbstractIn this contribution, we present a continuum mechanical transversely isotropic viscoelastic material model at finite deformations to model the mechanical behavior of the plant tissues of peltate leaves of Stephania japonica. Not many research efforts have been devoted to investigate the mechanical properties of this type of leaf shape. The model is obtained by postulating a particular Helmholtz free energy, which is split additively into an elastic and an inelastic part. Both parts of the energy depend on the structural tensors to account for the transversely isotropic material behavior. The evolution equations are chosen in a physically meaningful way that always fulfills the second law of thermodynamics. The numerical example reveals that the proposed model is capable of predicting the mechanical response of the real plant tissues at different loading rates.