Semiflexible Filamentous Composites

E. M. Huisman, C. Heussinger, C. Storm, and G. T. Barkema
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 118101 – Published 8 September 2010

Abstract

Inspired by the ubiquity of composite filamentous networks in nature, we investigate models of biopolymer networks that consist of interconnected floppy and stiff filaments. Numerical simulations carried out in three dimensions allow us to explore the microscopic partitioning of stresses and strains between the stiff and floppy fractions cs and cf and reveal a nontrivial relationship between the mechanical behavior and the relative fraction of stiff polymer: when there are few stiff polymers, nonpercolated stiff “inclusions“ are protected from large deformations by an encompassing floppy matrix, while at higher fractions of stiff material the stiff network is independently percolated and dominates the mechanical response.

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  • Received 31 May 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.118101

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

E. M. Huisman1, C. Heussinger2, C. Storm3, and G. T. Barkema1,4

  • 1Universiteit Leiden, Instituut-Lorentz, Postbus 9506, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
  • 2Université de Lyon; Université Lyon I, Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée et Nanostructures; UMR CNRS 5586, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
  • 3Department of Applied Physics and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • 4Universiteit Utrecht, Institute for Theoretical Physics, NL-3584 CE Utrecht, The Netherlands

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Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 11 — 10 September 2010

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