Abstract

We show that topological features have strong influence on the mechanical response of random elastic networks. In the simple case of a planar central force network under uni-axial compression, we vary first randomly topological characteristics under the condition that the numbers of nodes and edges in the network are fixed. Subsequently, we vary simultaneously topology and geometry and topology and local stiffness, respectively. It turns out that the characteristics related to topology determine the major trend in the mechanical behavior while randomness in geometry and local stiffness plays a minor role. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.