In the search of light yet strong and tough materials the nature produced soft composites with the staggered architecture. In such design, a soft protein matrix connects rigid mineral platelets similar to the cement connecting bricks in construction. In the present work, we examine strength and toughness (the total energy dissipated in fracture) of soft composites from the “first principles”. The latter means that we do not postulate material strength and toughness in advance — they become an outcome of numerical solutions of the initial boundary value problem. We formulate the boundary value problem on the basis of the material-sink approach enforcing the damage description in constitutive equations. In addition to the classical nature-made staggered architecture, we examine some alternative possible designs of platelets inside the soft matrix. Comparisons show that the classical staggered design is the best one (among considered). Nature wins at the moment.

中文翻译：

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软交错复合材料的强度和韧性研究

在寻找轻质但坚固耐用的材料时，大自然产生了具有交错结构的柔软复合材料。在这种设计中，软蛋白质基质连接刚性矿物片，类似于建筑中的水泥连接砖。在目前的工作中，我们从“第一原理”研究软复合材料的强度和韧性（断裂时耗散的总能量）。后者意味着我们不提前假设材料的强度和韧性——它们成为初始边值问题数值解的结果。我们在材料汇方法的基础上制定了边值问题，在本构方程中强制进行损伤描述。除了经典的自然交错结构之外，我们还研究了软基质内薄片的一些替代可能设计。比较表明，经典的交错设计是最好的一种（考虑中）。此刻自然获胜。