Effective elastic properties of loosely connected fibrous bio-inspired materials

Abstract

Understanding the mechanics of networks has become critical with the rapid development of advanced technologies that produce metamaterials with unique structures and properties. Architectured materials with random fibrous network microstructure may mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM), the low-connected microenvironment of biological cells. Elastic properties of ECM and artificial scaffolds influence the cells' interaction and state. However, experimental determination of these properties requires significant resources, whereas complex network topology complicates their prediction from theoretical analysis.In this work, we propose a way to determine the effective elastic properties of the fibrous hyperelastic material with a low degree of connectivity. A two-dimensional representative volume element (RVE) with a loosed fiber connectivity (C = 3.5) was quasi-statically subjected to uniaxial and equibiaxial tensions. The resulting material properties of fiber RVE were used as a reference for the continuum model simulations. Thus, the effective moduli of elasticity in two orthogonal directions for discrete fibrous and continuum models were evaluated and compared. Final results show that the model exhibits intense deformation and anisotropic properties appear starting from small deformations. Despite the highly non-linear behavior of the system, the Ogden model accurately described the system's behavior at the macro level.