Tensegrity Structures with Buckling Members Explain Nonlinear Stiffening and Reversible Softening of Actin Networks
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 135, Issue 12
Abstract
In this paper, a three-member tensegrity structure is used as a conceptual model for the dendritic actin network in living cells. The pre and postbuckling behavior of the tensegrity is analyzed basing on the energy method. Analytical simulations are carried out on the tensegrity by using the experimentally obtained scales and mechanic properties of actin-filaments for the structural members of the tensegrity. The model exhibits a stress stiffening regime followed by a stress softening regime in the load-stiffness relationship, which qualitatively tallies with the experimentally observed response of actin networks. Due to the simplicity of the model, there is only a single compressed member and the structure buckles abruptly, which results a softening regime much steeper than that observed in the actin network. To take the member length variety into account, we propose a conceptual large-scale tensegrity system with various member lengths, and its behavior is approximately estimated by the mean response of a large number of three-member tensegrity cells with their member length varying in the range of filament lengths. The obtained mean response exhibits a much better fitness to the response of actin networks than those exhibited by the single tensegrity model. The findings reported in this paper indicate that the dendritic actin network may work as a complex tensegrity system, when it is subjected to a stress.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from NCET (Grant No. UNSPECIFIED06-0517) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. NNSFC50638050). The writers also really appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 135 • Issue 12 • December 2009
Pages: 1368 - 1374
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 27, 2008
Accepted: May 11, 2009
Published online: May 16, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
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