Plastic strain localization in Bouligand structures

The Bouligand structure represents helicoidal stacking of aligned fibers; such a structure is widely observed in biological composites. Despite the progress in characterization of toughening caused by Bouligand arrangement of fibers, the inelastic deformation mechanisms of this structure remain elusive. In this study, we carry out calculations for plastic deformation of Bouligand structure, crossed-lamellar structure and the single lamellar structure. It is found that the single lamellar structure and crossed-lamellar structure can undergo necking, while in the Bouligand structure, plastic strain localization bands develop, which is accompanied by plastic rotating of fibers, lamellar twisting and lamellar delamination. Compared with crossed-lamellar structure, the Bouligand structure exhibits lower plastic energy dissipation. However, the Bouligand pattern can activate delamination of lamellae, generating high level of damage energy dissipation. The plastic deformation of Bouligand structure depends on the fracture properties of interface between adjacent lamellae. It is identified that the plastic dissipation of Bouligand structure increases with increasing cohesive strength of lamellar interface, and dominant shear bands emerge in the case of weak lamellar interface. The high strength of lamellar interface plays a role in promoting twisting of lamellae. We have further revealed the effect of the thickness of individual lamella on plastic deformation of the Bouligand structure. The thick lamella is capable of suppressing plastic strain localization in Bouligand structure, thereby giving rise to high plastic dissipation. The findings of this study shed new light on the development of bioinspired Bouligand-type materials.