Fiber network mechanics
{{context|date=June 2017}}
Fiber network mechanics is a subject within physics and mechanics that deals with the deformation of networks made by the connection of slender fibers.{{Cite journal|last1=Broedersz|first1=C. P.|last2=MacKintosh|first2=F. C.|date=2014-07-24|title=Modeling semiflexible polymer networks|journal=Reviews of Modern Physics|volume=86|issue=3|pages=995–1036|doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.86.995|arxiv=1404.4332|bibcode=2014RvMP...86..995B|s2cid=118523868}}{{Cite journal|last=Picu|first=R. C.|date=2011-07-19|title=Mechanics of random fiber networks—a review|journal=Soft Matter|language=en|volume=7|issue=15|pages=6768|doi=10.1039/c1sm05022b|issn=1744-6848|bibcode=2011SMat....7.6768P}} Fiber networks are used to model the mechanics of fibrous materials such as biopolymer networks{{Cite journal|last1=Licup|first1=Albert James|last2=Münster|first2=Stefan|last3=Sharma|first3=Abhinav|last4=Sheinman|first4=Michael|last5=Jawerth|first5=Louise M.|last6=Fabry|first6=Ben|last7=Weitz|first7=David A.|last8=MacKintosh|first8=Fred C.|date=2015-08-04|title=Stress controls the mechanics of collagen networks|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=112|issue=31|pages=9573–9578|doi=10.1073/pnas.1504258112|issn=0027-8424|pmc=4534289|pmid=26195769|arxiv=1503.00924|bibcode=2015PNAS..112.9573L|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Feng|first1=Jingchen|last2=Levine|first2=Herbert|last3=Mao|first3=Xiaoming|last4=Sander|first4=Leonard M.|date=2016-01-27|title=Nonlinear elasticity of disordered fiber networks|journal=Soft Matter|language=en|volume=12|issue=5|pages=1419–1424|doi=10.1039/c5sm01856k|pmid=26616428|issn=1744-6848|arxiv=1507.07519|bibcode=2016SMat...12.1419F|s2cid=40846621}} and paper products.{{Cite journal|last=Bronkhorst|first=C. A.|date=2003-10-01|title=Modelling paper as a two-dimensional elastic–plastic stochastic network|journal=International Journal of Solids and Structures|volume=40|issue=20|pages=5441–5454|doi=10.1016/s0020-7683(03)00281-6}} Depending on the mechanical behavior of individual filaments, the networks may be composed of mechanical elements such as Hookean springs,{{Cite journal|last1=Wyart|first1=M.|last2=Liang|first2=H.|last3=Kabla|first3=A.|last4=Mahadevan|first4=L.|date=2008-11-19|title=Elasticity of Floppy and Stiff Random Networks|journal=Physical Review Letters|volume=101|issue=21|pages=215501|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.215501|pmid=19113422|arxiv=0806.4571|bibcode=2008PhRvL.101u5501W|s2cid=4073149}} Euler-Bernoulli beams,{{Cite journal|last1=Ban|first1=Ehsan|last2=Barocas|first2=Victor H.|last3=Shephard|first3=Mark S.|last4=Picu|first4=R. Catalin|date=2016-02-01|title=Softening in random networks of non-identical beams|journal=Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids|volume=87|pages=38–50|doi=10.1016/j.jmps.2015.11.001|pmc=4669583|pmid=26644629|bibcode=2016JMPSo..87...38B}} and worm-like chains.{{Cite journal|last1=Heussinger|first1=Claus|last2=Bathe|first2=Mark|last3=Frey|first3=Erwin|date=2007-07-25|title=Statistical Mechanics of Semiflexible Bundles of Wormlike Polymer Chains|journal=Physical Review Letters|volume=99|issue=4|pages=048101|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.048101|pmid=17678408|bibcode=2007PhRvL..99d8101H|arxiv=cond-mat/0702097|s2cid=15414942}} The field of fiber network mechanics is closely related to the mechanical analysis of frame structures, granular materials, critical phenomena, and lattice dynamics.