In this paper, we mimic the venous morphology of a typical plant leaf into a fiber composite structure where the veins are replaced by stiff fibers and the rest of the leaf is idealized as an elastic perfectly plastic polymeric matrix. The variegated venations found in nature are idealized into three principal fibers — the central mid-fiber corresponding to the mid-rib, straight parallel secondary fibers attached to the mid-fiber representing the secondary veins and then another set of parallel fibers emanating from the secondary fibers mimicking the tertiary veins of a typical leaf. The tertiary fibers do not interconnect the secondary fibers in our present study. We carry out finite element (FE) based computational investigation of the mechanical properties such as Young’s moduli, Poisson’s ratio and yield stress under uniaxial loading of the resultant composite structures and study the effect of different fiber architectures. To this end, we use two broad types of architectures both having similar central main fiber but differing in either having only secondary fibers or additional tertiary fibers. The fiber and matrix volume fractions are kept constant and a comparative parametric study is carried out by varying the inclination of the secondary fibers. We find significant effect of fiber inclination on the overall mechanical properties of the composites with higher fiber angles transitioning the composite increasingly into a matrix-dominated response. We also find that in general, composites with only secondary fibers are stiffer with closed cell architecture of the secondary fibers. The closed cell architecture also arrested the yield stress decrease and Poisson’s ratio increase at higher fiber angles thereby mitigating the transition into the matrix dominated mode. The addition of tertiary fibers also had a pronounced effect in arresting this transition into the matrix dominated mode. However, it was found that indiscriminate addition of tertiary fibers may not provide desired additional stiffness for fixed volume fraction of constituents. In conclusion, introducing a leaf-mimicking topology in fiber architecture can provide significant additional degrees of tunability in design of these composite structures.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2016 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
November 11–17, 2016
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- ASME
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5063-3
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Mechanical Properties of Biomimetic Leaf Composite
Hamid Nayeb Hashemi,
Hamid Nayeb Hashemi
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Search for other works by this author on:
Gongdai Liu,
Gongdai Liu
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Search for other works by this author on:
Ashkan Vaziri,
Ashkan Vaziri
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Search for other works by this author on:
Masoud Olia,
Masoud Olia
Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
Search for other works by this author on:
Ranajay Ghosh
Ranajay Ghosh
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Search for other works by this author on:
Hamid Nayeb Hashemi
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Gongdai Liu
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Ashkan Vaziri
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Masoud Olia
Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
Ranajay Ghosh
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Paper No:
IMECE2016-65503, V009T12A007; 9 pages
Published Online:
February 8, 2017
Citation
Nayeb Hashemi, H, Liu, G, Vaziri, A, Olia, M, & Ghosh, R. "Mechanical Properties of Biomimetic Leaf Composite." Proceedings of the ASME 2016 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Volume 9: Mechanics of Solids, Structures and Fluids; NDE, Diagnosis, and Prognosis. Phoenix, Arizona, USA. November 11–17, 2016. V009T12A007. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2016-65503
Download citation file:
19
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
The Influence of the Bauschinger Effect on the Yield Stress, Young’s Modulus, and Poisson’s Ratio of a Gun Barrel Steel
J. Pressure Vessel Technol (May,2006)
Initial Elastic Properties of Unidirectional Ceramic Matrix Composite Fiber Tows
J. Appl. Mech (September,2012)
Optimizing Topology and Fiber Orientations With Minimum Length Scale Control in Laminated Composites
J. Mech. Des (February,2021)
Related Chapters
Novel and Efficient Mathematical and Computational Methods for the Analysis and Architecting of Ultralight Cellular Materials and their Macrostructural Responses
Advances in Computers and Information in Engineering Research, Volume 2
Stiffening Mechanisms
Introduction to Plastics Engineering
Advanced Composites – Materials with Well-Defined Reinforcement Architectures
Introduction to Plastics Engineering