Abstract
Rat tail tendon and other connective tissues are being studied as unusual fibre-filled composite materials of biological origin. The collagen fibres of these tissues follow a planar wavy course along the axis of the bundle of fibres, and the straightening of this waveform produces an initial “toe region” of low modulus in the stress-strain curve, followed by a linear high-modulus region associated with stretching of the fibres themselves. Presumably this mechanical behaviour is valuable to the animal as an impact absorption mechanism.
Synthetic composite models of buckled high-modulus fibres in a soft elastic matrix have been made by differential shrinkage of the components, and show a waveform having several features in common with the collagen fibres in tendon. Both waveforms are planar, with a shape intermediate between a sine and a zig-zag. Parallel fibres buckle in phase and in parallel planes for fibre separations up to 10 diameters. When strained to high levels, both showed a previously unnoticed second waveform of smaller period superposed on the original waveform, due to slippage between the components.
A possible mechanism for fibre bucklingin vivo is discussed.
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Abbreviations
- D :
-
fibre separation distance (Μm)
- d :
-
fibre diameter (Μm)
- l 0 :
-
half-wavelength of waveform, i.e. peak to trough distance projected on overall fibre axis (Μm)
- ¯M v :
-
viscosity-average molecular weight (g mol−1)
- Β :
-
angle between plane of microscope stage and plane of waveform, degrees
- ε :
-
axial strain, dimensionless or percent of original length
- ε ∞ :
-
strain at which waveform is just pulled straight
- ε max :
-
maximum strain to which sample has been subjected
- θ 0 :
-
maximum deviation of local fibre direction from overall fibre axis, degrees
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Dale, W.C., Baer, E. Fibre-buckling in composite systems: a model for the ultrastructure of uncalcified collagen tissues. J Mater Sci 9, 369–382 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737836
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737836