title: Biopolymer network geometries: characterization, regeneration, and elastic properties.
abstract: We study the geometry of biopolymer networks and effects of the geometry on bulk mechanical properties. It is shown numerically that the physical network geometry can be quantified statistically and regenerated from its statistical description, so that the regenerated network exhibits the same network mechanics as the physical network in the elastic regime. A collagen-I biopolymer network is used for validation. The method enables parametric studies of the network geometry, whose parameters are often difficult to vary independently in experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fiber and Polymer Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden. stefan.lindstroem@gmail.com
authors.forename: Stefan B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Lindström
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Vader
authors.forename: Artem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kulachenko
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Weitz
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002417:Cattle; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000737:chemistry*; D004548:Elasticity; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D024042:Collagen Type I