Spatial variations in fiber alignment (and, therefore, in mechanical anisotropy) play a central role in the excellent toughness and fatigue characteristics of many biological materials. In this work, we examine the effect of fiber alignment in soft composites, including both “in-plane” and “out-of-plane” fiber arrangements. We take inspiration from the spatial variations of fiber alignment found in the aorta to three-dimensionally (3D) print soft, tough silicone composites with an excellent combination of stiffness, toughness, and fatigue threshold, regardless of the direction of loading. These aorta-inspired composites exhibit mechanical properties comparable to skin, with excellent combinations of stiffness and toughness not previously observed in synthetic soft materials. Published by PNAS. This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
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