Modeling of fiber-reinforced membrane materials - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Balzani

In civil engineering textile materials are an important class of materials in the context of light-weight constructions. These materials are thin membranes and they consist of woven fiber networks embedded in a matrix. Therefore, textile membrane materials are composite materials. Owing to the stiffer fibers (compared to the matrix) these membranes are able to resist rather high normal loads but very few bending loading. That is why these materials are used in conditions where the loading is rather biaxial and thus, they are mostly used as roof or facade construction elements.
This material composition is conceptionally similar to soft biological tissues since there also collagen fibers and smooth muscle cells are embedded in an isotropic ground substance. In arterial walls for instance mainly two fiber families are observed which are arranged cross-wise helically around the artery.