Instabilities of an inflated and extended doubly fiber-reinforced cylindrical membrane under damage processes and different natural configurations of its constituents with application to abnormal artery dilation

This article studies extended and inflated tubes made of doubly fiber-reinforced hyperelastic material in which the constituents undergo damage processes at large deformations. Damage processes are initiated by a combination of external loads and material characteristics including volume changes in the ground substance matrix and constituents with different natural configurations. The inflation of such a cylinder is stable at relatively small deformations. Under higher inflation pressures the cylinder is likely to develop various types of instabilities that are shown to be related to loading, geometry, and (current) mechanical properties of the solid. Analyses focus on the role of material volume changes, fiber pre-stretch, and damage processes in the initiation of bulging and inflation-jump instabilities.