Adhesion plays an important role in the mechanics of nanoscale fibers such as various biological filaments, carbon nanotubes and artificial polymeric nanofibers. In this work we study assemblies of non-crosslinked filaments and characterize their adhesion-driven structural evolution and their final stable structure. The key parameters of the problem are the network density, the fiber length, the bending stiffness of fibers and the strength of adhesion. The system of fibers self-organizes in one of three types of structures: locked networks, in which fibers remain in the as-deposited state, cellular networks, in which fibers form bundles and these organize into a larger scale network, and disintegrated networks, in which the network of bundles becomes disconnected. We determine the parametric space corresponding to each of these structures. Further, we identify a triangular structure of bundles, similar to the Plateau triangle occurring in foams, which stabilizes the network of bundles and study in detail the stabilization mechanism. The analysis provides design guidelines and a physical picture of the stability and structure of random fiber networks with adhesion.

中文翻译：

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具有纤维间粘附力的非交联纤维网络的结构演变和稳定性

粘附力在诸如各种生物长丝，碳纳米管和人造聚合物纳米纤维等纳米级纤维的力学中起着重要作用。在这项工作中，我们研究了非交联长丝的组装，并表征了它们的粘合驱动结构演变和最终的稳定结构。该问题的关键参数是网络密度，纤维长度，纤维的弯曲刚度和粘合强度。光纤系统以三种类型的结构之一进行自组织：锁定网络（其中的纤维保持沉积状态），蜂窝网络（其中的纤维形成束并组织成更大的网络）和分解的网络，捆绑网络断开连接。我们确定与这些结构中的每一个相对应的参数空间。进一步，我们确定了束的三角形结构，类似于泡沫中出现的Plateau三角形，该结构稳定了束的网络，并详细研究了稳定机理。该分析提供了具有粘合性的随机纤维网络的稳定性和结构的设计指南和物理图片。