Propagation of Contractile-Induced Displacement in Prestressed Fibrous Materials

Abstract The interruption of cellular interactions in biological processes such as migration, differentiation, proliferation, and wound healing could lead to conditions such as fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, brain tumors, and cancer. The role of microstructural and mechanical properties of the surrounding fibrous extracellular matrix has been highlighted in facilitating cellular communications and long-range transmission of displacements and stresses. However, the role of prestress, which is commonly seen in biological materials, is largely overlooked. The primary objective of the present study is to address this existing gap by investigating the influence of prestress on the displacement propagation caused by a local contractile domain inside discrete fibrous media. In this regard, we first generate 2D random fiber networks with an average network connectivity of less than the isostatic threshold. We create a prestressed state in these networks by applying both compressive/tensile uniaxial and biaxial deformation. Then, we numerically characterize prestress effects on the displacement propagation caused by the local contractile deformation. In comparison with displacement transmission in random fiber networks under tensile prestress, the numerical simulations show that the displacement propagation due to a local contraction is more pronounced in networks with compressive prestress. The numerical findings are discussed in terms of prestress effects on microstructural and mechanical properties of random fiber networks.