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We propose a novel bilayer finite element model incorporating axonal tension in the subcortex. Our results reveal that axonal tension serves as a perturbation that triggers folding and determines the placement of folds. 

Over the past decades, the buckling instability of layered materials has been the subject of analytical, experimental, and numerical research. These systems have traditionally been considered with stress-free surfaces, and the influence of surface pressure is understudied. In this study, we developed a finite element model of a bilayer experiencing compression, and found that it behaves differently under surface pressure. We investigated the onset of buckling, the initial wavelength, and the post-buckling behavior of a bilayer system under two modes of compression (externally applied and internally generated by growth). Across a wide range of stiffness ratios, 1 < μf/μs < 100, we observed decreased stability in the presence of surface pressure, especially in the low-stiffness-contrast regime, μf/μs < 10. Our results suggest the importance of pressure boundary conditions for the stability analysis of bilayered systems, especially in soft and living matter physics, such as folding of the cerebral cortex under cerebrospinal fluid pressure, where pressure may affect morphogenesis and buckling patterns. 

Abstract The cornea, the transparent tissue in the front of the eye, along with the sclera, plays a vital role in protecting the inner structures of the eyeball. The precise shape and mechanical strength of this tissue are mostly determined by the unique microstructure of its extracellular matrix. A clear picture of the 3D arrangement of collagen fibrils within the corneal extracellular matrix has recently been obtained from the secondary harmonic generation images. However, this important information about the through-thickness distribution of collagen fibrils was seldom taken into account in the constitutive modeling of the corneal behavior. This work creates a generalized structure tensor (GST) model to investigate the mechanical influence of collagen fibril through-thickness distribution. It then uses numerical simulations of the corneal mechanical response in inflation experiments to assess the efficacy of the proposed model. A parametric study is also done to investigate the influence of model parameters on numerical predictions. Finally, a brief comparison between the performance of this new constitutive model and a recent angular integration (AI) model from the literature is given.