Figure 5.
Schematic of mechanical test. Once equilibrated, each fibril model is subject to uniaxial stretching through at an applied constant pulling velocity (vconstant). Fibril connectivity is removed in an alternating, staggered arrangement to ensure stress transfer via interfibril interaction (shear transfer) rather than fibril stretching. Stress is calculated, using the virial stress of a representative interior volume to reduce boundary effects. The discontinuities are difficult to visualize in the model (see representative cross section), owing to the non-uniform particulate size and equilibrium (e.g. packed) configuration. (Online version in colour.)