A modular modeling approach for investigating wool critical buckling from biologically variable along-fiber microstructure

Mammalian hair fibres are internally sophisticated. We introduce a modelling approach aimed at use in research that derives value from understanding how microstructural organisation generates effects at the macroscopic level in the context of natural biological variation. Critical buckling load is solved using a numerical approach applied to a modular fibre microstructure model where fibres of arbitrary length are made up of snippets composed of serial cross sections at 25 micrometre intervals. As an example, we applied the model to investigate how much effect changes to single microstructural properties (fibre ellipticity, cortical cell type distribution and cell type proportion) have on critical buckling load in the context of prickle. Potential uses and key weak areas in our knowledge of wool fibre morphology and biophysics are discussed.