Multi-layer composite mechanical modeling for the inhomogeneous biofilm mechanical behavior.
Experiments showed that bacterial biofilms are heterogeneous, for example, the density, the diffusion coefficient, and mechanical properties of the biofilm are different along the biofilm thickness. In this paper, we establish a multi-layer composite model to describe the biofilm mechanical inhomogeneity based on unified multiple-component cellular automaton (UMCCA) model. By using our model, we develop finite element simulation procedure for biofilm tension experiment. The failure limit and biofilm extension displacement obtained from our model agree well with experimental measurements. This method provides an alternative theory to study the mechanical inhomogeneity in biological materials.
* School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.|† Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.|‡ Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15, Bei Si Huan Xi Lu, Beijing 100190, China.
Xiaoling
X
Wang
* School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Jingshi
0000-0003-0604-5704
J
Han
* School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Kui
K
Li
* School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Guoqing
G
Wang
* School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Mudong
M
Hao
D018441:Biofilms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D008954:Models, Biological; D008962:Models, Theoretical
Biofilm; UMCCA; finite element method; inhomogeneity; multi-layer composite mechanical model