Abstract:

In order to explore the relationship between the vein structure and the minimum total strain energy that the plant leaf tries to maintain during the growth, six models of leaf vein structures with different lateral-vein vector angles are established and numerically analyzed. The results indicate that the model established according to the original leaf sample exhibits better mechanical properties, as compared with other models, and that it helps to＋ keep the internal strain energy at a small value. Furthermore, it is found from the topological patterns of the leaf in single- load and multi-load fields that stress is one of the inducing factors for vein growth, and that the vein network of the plant leaf not only possesses the physiological functions but also adapts to the complex environmental stress by evolving itself into a steady self-adaptive structure with medial axis pattern.

Key words: medial axis pattern, plant leaf, mechanical performance, topological pattern