Structure-property Relationship of Bio-Inspired Fibrous Materials

Natural fibrous tissues exhibit excellent mechanical properties and functional behavior. These functional behaviors are desired in many recent designs such as soft robotic devices and tissue engineering application. A sensible strategy to reproduce the functionality of natural materials is to mimic their microstructures, which are in the form of fibrous networks. However, literature on how fibrous networks affect the mechanical behavior in tissues is still lacking. In this study, the deformation of microscopic fibrous networks was investigated using finite element analysis. Fibrous networks were generated in MATLAB by constructing lines from random points with random angles. The fibers were then modeled by beam elements in finite element software ABAQUS. A noodle-like behavior resembling collagen fibers was defined. Finite element analysis showed that fibrous networks deformed in a non-continuum manner and allowed large deformation. Parameters such as fiber properties, fiber diameter, fiber and bonding density were found to significantly affect material stiffness. In conclusion, understanding the structure-property relationship provides useful guidelines for the creation of bio-inspired materials with desired stiffness.