Effective medium theory of semiflexible filamentous networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces an effective medium theory for understanding the mechanics of disordered semiflexible polymer networks, revealing elastic regimes and strain behaviors consistent with previous studies.

Contribution

It develops a novel effective medium approach that captures the elastic response and strain regimes of semiflexible filamentous networks, bridging numerical and theoretical insights.

Findings

Identifies elastic regimes dominated by bending or stretching

Predicts a crossover between affine and non-affine strain behaviors

Aligns with prior numerical and scaling studies

Abstract

We develop an effective medium approach to the mechanics of disordered, semiflexible polymer networks and study the response of such networks to uniform and nonuniform strain. We identify distinct elastic regimes in which the contributions of either filament bending or stretching to the macroscopic modulus vanish. We also show that our effective medium theory predicts a crossover between affine and non-affine strain, consistent with both prior numerical studies and scaling theory.