Computational Modeling and Analysis of Fungi‐Inspired Network Systems

Filamentous fungi create complex structures, such as mushrooms, using filaments made of fungal cells, called hyphae. Previous research shows that the presence of distinct types of hyphal filaments can affect the mechanical properties of the mushrooms they form. This study characterizes the structure and mechanical properties of a monomitic white mushroom (one type of hyphal filaments) and a dimitic maitake mushroom (two types of hyphal filaments). This characterization includes properties on the micro‐ and macroscale using imaging, compression testing, and nanoindentation. Using this experimental data and imaging observation, a stochastic cellular structure is proposed and simulated using 3D Voroni structures. Compression test simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of filament orientation on these filamentous network structures. Five main filament orientation angles are used: horizontal (0°), 30°, 60°, and vertical (90°). These orientation angles result in variable stiffness of the structure without the addition of fibers of different mechanical properties, suggesting that the orientation of hyphal filaments can be manipulated to alter the properties of monomitic fungi‐based or fungi‐inspired materials. This study lays a foundation for designing stochastic cellular structures with tunable mechanical properties in different directions.