Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647

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Extreme Mechanics Letters

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eml

From surface microrelief to big wrinkles in skin: A mechanical in-silico

model
∗
Poorya Chavoshnejad, Saurabh More, Mir Jalil Razavi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, United States

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: A major concern associated with skin, the largest organ of our body, is how to prevent it from
Received 18 October 2019 wrinkling and aging. Understanding the mechanics of skin wrinkling can provide useful insight into
Received in revised form 1 February 2020 skin aging prevention. However, despite decades of endeavors the underlying mechanism of skin
Accepted 1 February 2020
wrinkling and aging remains poorly understood. This paper explores the effect of geometrical and
Available online 6 February 2020
mechanical properties of skin on its wrinkling via an integrated theoretical and computational analysis.
Keywords: The skin is modeled with a soft structure having different layers with various thicknesses and material
Skin properties. Innovatively, the pattern of skin microrelief is generated and mapped on the model to
Wrinkling investigate its effect on the formation of primary lines, secondary lines, and big wrinkles of skin.
Mechanics Analytical interpretation provides preliminary insight into the critical compressive strain for the model
Microrelief skin to start wrinkling, while advanced computational models with surface microrelief offer clues
Finite element for the skin’s post-wrinkling complex morphology. In particular, tissue geometry, material properties,
and microrelief pattern are explored as the determinant parameters to control the location, size, and
patterns of skin wrinkles. Our findings allude that the characteristics of compression-induced wrinkles
are primarily determined by the geometrical and material property of skin layers rather than the
genuine skin microrelief. However, microrelief plays a pivotal role in regulating and determining the
locations of primary and secondary wrinkle lines. The edges of the microrelief units are favorable
paths for evolving primary and secondary lines. Post-wrinkling analysis reveals that in addition to
the periodic sinusoidal pattern, several secondary complex patterns such as non-symmetric periodic,
period-doubling and self-contacting folds are observed in the compressed model of skin. Results of
the study also show that wrinkle patterns highly depend on the thickness and material property of
Stratum Corneum (SC), the outermost layer of skin.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction subcutaneous layer called the hypodermis (or Adipose tissue)

The skin is the largest organ of the body, containing the
internal organs and muscles. Primarily, skin acts as a barrier
to the environment and secondly, controls inward and outward
passage of water. The skin is a mechanically complicated material
as it consists of various layers which are composed of multiple
components. Generally, the skin is divided into three layers: epi-
dermis, dermis, and hypodermis [1]. The outermost layer called
the epidermis is a paper-thin layer, yet it is composed of five
layers. Basal Cells are in the lower epidermis; they constantly
divide and move up to the surface layer continuously. As they
reach the Stratum Corneum (SC), the outermost layer of the
epidermis, the Squamous Cells die and can flake off. Collagen,
elastin and reticular fibers are found in the dermis. The skin
gets its strength and elastic properties from these proteins. The
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mrazavi@binghamton.edu (M.J. Razavi).
is made up of fat tissue. This layer helps in forming insulation
and reduces heat loss from the body. Fig. 1 shows the cross-
section of human skin with the identifiable layers (hypodermis
layer is not included). The thickness and mechanical property of
each layer are different from the other layers [2,3]. Interestingly,
the mechanical properties of skin in vivo and pre-stress state
are different from those of in vitro [2,4,5]. There is a strikingly
wide range of data for the thicknesses and mechanical proper-
ties of consisting layers in different anatomical sites of body.
Table 1 shows the range of thickness and mechanical property
of each consisting layer from various references. We deliberately
separated Stratum Corneum (SC) from the epidermis layer. It
is worth noting that the biomechanical properties of skin are
age-dependent [6–8].
One of the most important specifications of skin is wrinkling,
a natural part of aging. Wrinkling is a morphological pattern
on skin surface which increases by aging [6,9,10,29]. Wrinkling
can be considered as a buckling concept in which a structure
under load deforms greatly and becomes unstable, turning into

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2020.100647
2352-4316/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647
Table 1
The thickness and mechanical property of each layer of skin.
Layer Thickness
Stratum Corneum (SC) 10–30 (µm)
Viable Epidermis 30–100 (µm)
Dermis 0.1–4 mm
Hypodermis 1.1 (µm)–1.2 (mm)
Fig. 1. The histological section skin sample with identified different structural
layers (hypodermis layer is not included). The figure has been used from Ref. [28]
with permission.
Fig. 2. Plane-strain skin model with three layers. The thicknesses and material
property of each layer has a wide range according to Table 1.
a completely different structure [30,31]. As the appearance of
skin wrinkles, especially facial skin, is a sign of aging, people
tend to give much attention to the prevention of wrinkles. Hence,
understanding the mechanics of wrinkling is vital because it is
key to having smooth skin. Despite the extensive studies on the
surface instabilities conducted in the last decade, most of the the-
oretical models associated with skin wrinkling are restricted to
idealized conditions [11]. Therefore, there is a lack of understand-
ing and absence of a theoretical–computational framework to
explain the wrinkling of skin. Recently, due to the complexity of
mechanical behavior of skin, numerical modeling [12–15,32,33],
has emerged to explain the different aspects of wrinkling of skin.
Thalmann et al. [15] presented a 2D computational model for
studying the mechanical properties of skin with aging. The study
showed that a three-layer model might explain wrinkling of aged
skin better than a two-layer one. Flynn et al. [12,32] developed
a 2D multilayer finite element model which included the pre-
stress effect. They showed that the proposed three-layer model
was an improvement over the two-layer model. Results revealed
that the moisture content of the stratum corneum, the dermal
collagen fiber density, and a reduction and change in the pre-
stress distribution in the skin model influence the wrinkle size
Elastic modulus (MPa) References
0.6–100
0.1–10
[2,9–27]
0.03–0.2
0.05–0.1
and numbers. Shiihara et al. [13] with a simple 2D finite element
model investigated the effect of skin roughness (i.e., microrelief)
to explore how extensive wrinkles appear on human skin. In their
model, surface roughness was modeled by a number of notches
on the SC layer, which is an ideal assumption. Results of the
study suggest that softening the SC by introducing microrelief
could prevent the appearance of large wrinkles. More recently,
a sophisticated two-layer 3D finite element model showed that
skin microrelief is the dominant factor in altering micro-wrinkle
patterns for moderate elastic modulus ratios between the two
layers [14]. The microrelief was reconstructed from laser scan-
ning profilometry of a silicone replica of a human volar forearm
skin patch. Although previous studies give valuable information
regarding skin wrinkling, it should be noted that, to date, the
mechanism of formation of primary lines, secondary lines, and
big wrinkles has not been appropriately discovered. Moreover,
the effect of geometry and material property of skin layers on the
wrinkling patterns needs further investigation. It is believed that
extensive effort is required to fully understand the mechanism
of wrinkling and aging of human skin. To cover some limitations
and simplifications of previous studies, we propose a new three-
dimensional multilayer skin model, including surface microrelief,
to study the mechanics of wrinkling of skin. In our mechanistic
model, the pattern of surface microrelief is created by an auto-
matic mechanical model. Therefore, we are able to control the
size and pattern of the microrelief. The main goal is to show how
geometrical and mechanical factors alter the wrinkling patterns
of skin. Understanding the biophysics of skin wrinkling might
help dermatologists and cosmetic companies offer new methods
for preventing the wrinkling and aging of skin.
This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we first explain
our developed analytical-computational skin model. In Section 3,
the effects of geometry and mechanical property of layers on the
wrinkle patterns are explored. We attempt to demonstrate how
surface microrelief contributes to the initiation and development
of skin wrinkles. Finally, the main results and conclusions are
summarized in Section 4.
2. Methods
2.1. Computational models
2.1.1. Plane-strain model
The skin is modeled by a three-layered structure: Stratum
Corneum (SC), Viable epidermis, and Dermis [12]. Fig. 2 shows the
three consisting layers of the model. According to Table 1, there
is a wide range for the thickness of each layer. The hypodermis
layer is not included in the model, since it is far from the sites of
wrinkles and does not have a considerable effect on the wrinkle
patterns [12,14]. The thickness and material property of the SC
layer are considered to be variable for exploring the effect of ge-
ometry and material property on the wrinkling process, while the
thicknesses and material properties of other layers are fixed. In
the absence of microrelief and since the compression is uniaxial,
therefore, the problem is mimicked by a plane-strain model [16,
30,31,34,35]. The material property of each layer is shown in
Table 1. Previous studies demonstrate that for long time scales,
skin tissue acts as a hyperelastic material [2,12,13,17,36]. There-
fore, constitutive behavior of all layers is characterized through
 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647
the following neo-Hookean free energy, Eq. (2.1), parameterized
exclusively in terms of the elastic tensor A and its Jacobian J a
1 1 [
λ ln2 J a + µ A: A − 3 − 2 ln J a
]
W = (2.1)
2 2
where λ and µ are Lamé constants. Following standard arguments
of thermodynamics, we can obtain the Kirchhoff stress P
∂W
· A = λ ln J a − µ I + µA
[ ( ) ]
P =2 (2.2)
∂A
where I denotes the second order unit tensor, Eq. (2.2). These
stresses enter the mechanical equilibrium equation
1 to each model. The bottom surface of the model is fixed along
div ( P)=
˙0 (2.3)
J the ‘‘z’’ direction and three sides (except compression side) are
which we solve the Eq. (2.3) numerically using the finite ele-
ment method. The SC layer and the substrate are modeled and
meshed in Abaqus by the reduced integration quadrilateral el-
ements (CPS4R) [37]. The smaller size of mesh is used close
to top layer; and for any model mesh, convergence analysis is
performed. The interaction between SC layer and substrate is
considered to be a perfect bonding condition at their interface.
In order to study the surface instability, the analysis is carried
out through two steps: (1) applying critical wavelength as an im-
perfection, and (2) applying 30% axial compressive strain. In the
first step, a very small sinusoidal displacement, considering the
analytical wavelength of buckling for each model, is introduced to
the top surface of the model. We apply the imperfection as ω =
0.01h which has a negligible effect on results [30,34,38]. ‘‘h’’ is the
amplitude of the critical wavelength. The effect of imperfection
on the mechanical behavior of film–substrate structures has been
studied in several materials, especially for soft multi-layered and
composite materials [39–44]. The result of the first step is used
as an imperfection for the next step. In the post-buckling step,
a 3 mm displacement, corresponding to 30% strain, is applied
quasi-statically into one side of the model to induce a uniaxial
compression along the ‘‘x’’ direction.
2.1.2. Three-dimensional model
For the 3D analysis, a three-layered cuboid model with
10×10×1.9 mm3 is created. The thickness of each layer is consid-
ered similar to the plane-strain model. The pattern of microrelief
depends on both the structure of the dermis and the applied
mechanical forces. The genuine microrelief consists of intersect-
ing lines which connect dispersed follicular and eccrine duct
openings [45]. Therefore, at the beginning, there are no primary
or secondary lines on it. The tertiary lines are very small and
shallow which correspond to the edges of corneocytes, terminally
differentiated keratinocytes and composing most of the stratum
corneum. Fig. 3(a) and (b) show two samples of surface microre-
lief in two different sites of human hand, knuckle and back of
hand respectively. The microrelief consists of polygonal shapes
of which size and depth vary greatly in different anatomical
sites [45]. In order to generate microrelief, a code was developed
in Matlab software. According to the requested size of microrelief
polygon units, certain number of nodes were distributed ran-
domly on a 10 × 10 mm2 square plane, and neighbor nodes with
distance less than 0.4 mm were filtered to prevent formation
of very small units. By the remaining nodes and using Voronoi
diagram, the microrelief pattern is generated, Fig. 3(c). The unit
size was chosen such that the created units resemble the natural
skin microrelief, Fig. 3(a), (b). Later, in Section 3.5, the size of
the units is considered as a variable. The coordinates of starting
and ending points of created lines are saved in a python file as a
transitional file to finite element model. From the data of python
3
file, surface partitions are generated on the surface of the SC in
the Abaqus FE model.
We carry out the analysis in two steps. In the first step, the
edges of units on the surface of SC are compressed along the ‘‘z’’
direction to form small creases on the edges of units. Every node
of mesh on the edges of units experiences the vertical load. This
effort creates small ridges and valleys on the surface of SC similar
to natural skin, Fig. 3(d). After discretization, the number of nodes
on each edge of units is not same. Similar vertical load is applied
on each node; therefore, the depth of valleys on edges is not
uniformly the same as a natural skin microrelief. To have similar
microrelief features before the compression in different models,
by trial and error, we found and applied a distinct vertical load
considered symmetric boundary conditions. In the second step,
a 3 mm displacement (30% strain) is applied axially and quasi-
statically similar to the plane-strain model. The model is meshed
using quadratic eight-noded reduced integration linear elements
(C3D8R). To prevent shear locking in the quadratic first order
element, the reduced integrated element and a very fine mesh
along the thickness of the model is used [14,32,46–51]. To reduce
the computation cost, the element size increases gradually from
top to bottom. Thus, the top surface as the study area in the model
has the finest mesh [52,53]. The mesh convergence process was
applied with the smallest unit size and the achieved mesh size
was used for all models. The results showed that when the used
were small enough, the results were independent from mesh size.
2.2. Analytical model
In the physics of wrinkling, the stiffness and thickness ratios
between the different layers are the critical factors to control the
onset of wrinkling and determination of wrinkles features [30]. To
find the wrinkling behavior of the proposed skin model, we used
the developed model [30] for a bilayer film–substrate structure
with the neo-Hookean material behavior for both layers. For
simplification, we consider a bilayer film–substrate plane-strain
model: SC as the film, and viable epidermis and dermis as the
substrate. This assumption is reasonable as the shear modulus
of the viable epidermis and dermis are in the same range, and
moreover, the thickness of the viable epidermis is relatively small.
Therefore, we can unify viable epidermis and dermis as a single
layer to act as a compliant substrate. The following formulas are
developed for a pre-stretched substrate, but they can be modified
for a model without pre-stretch by considering pre-stretch factor
as a unit (Λ = 1).
) 31
3µs µf
(
1 2 1( 2
)
ε crit
= (Λ ) 3 λ
crit
= 2π t Λ= 1 + λ01s
4 µf 3µs Λ 2
(2.4)
Here, ε is the critical strain for initiation of buckling, λcrit
crit
is the wavelength associated with the critical strain, and µf and
µs represent the ground state shear modulus of the film and
substrate, respectively. The thickness of the substrate is infinite,
and t describes the thickness of the film. λ01s represents pre-
stretch of the substrate in the longitudinal direction, if present.
In our study, we suppose that λ01s is equal to 1.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Smooth skin
The analytical bilayer model presented in Section 2.2 for the
thin stiff film as the SC and the soft complaint substrate as
4 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647

Fig. 3. (a)–(b) Two samples of microrelief in different sites of human hand, knuckle and back of hand respectively. The polygonal shapes of microrelief have different
sizes and depths in various anatomical sites. (c) polygons of surface microrelief are generated in a Matlab code. (c) created microrelief pattern is mapped in an
Abaqus FE model. The edges of units are compressed in the normal direction to mimic the ridges and valleys of microrelief. Picture shows displacement contour in
the vertical direction. Blue to red shows valleys to ridges.

Fig. 4. The critical strain and wavelength for a bilayer skin model for plane-strain condition. (a) The dependency of critical strain on the thickness of SC; (b) the
dependency of the critical wavelength on the elastic modulus of the SC.

the viable epidermis and dermis could give valuable information
regarding critical strain and wavelength of the skin structure in
the compression state. According to Table 1, the stiffness ratio
of SC to the underlying layers roughly varies between 10 and
200, which is a favorable range to the onset of wrinkling rather
than other types of surface instabilities [31,54,55]. Fig. 4(a) shows
the dependency of the critical compressive strain for the onset
of wrinkling on the elastic modulus of SC. In Eq. (2.4), we fixed
elastic modulus of the substrate as 0.066 MPa [13], and used
µf = Ef /3 and µs = Es /3 by the incompressibility assumption.
As it is clear in Fig. 4(a), the critical strain for the wide range
of the elastic modulus of the SC is fairly small. In other words,
the skin is susceptible to wrinkling even with a small contrac-
tion by the muscles, internal atrophy or external stimuli. The
skin with a stiffer SC layer has the lower critical strain which
makes it vulnerable to wrinkling. Therefore, mechanically it can
be explained why people avoid dry and stiff skin by the increasing
of skin humidity [56,57]. When the compressive strain in the SC
exceeds the critical value ε crit , it starts to develop wrinkles with
critical wavelength λcrit . The critical wavelength is a function of
film thickness and ratio of shear moduli, Fig. 4(b). The critical
wavelength has a linear relation with the SC thickness. The skin
with a thick and stiff SC has a higher critical wavelength. Hence,
it is expected that the different anatomical sites of body with
various thicknesses of SC form the diverse size of wrinkles [58].
Fig. 4(c) shows that the higher elastic modulus of SC has a higher
critical wavelength; however, this effect is more profound when
the SC layer is thick.
The results indicated in Fig. 4 are valid for the small compres-
sive strains. The critical wavelength is associated with the sym-
metrical sinusoidal wrinkles. In the higher compressive strains,
the Eq. (2.4) is not valid anymore, and the computational model
is needed to capture the post-instability patterns of wrinkles. In
addition to the periodic sinusoidal pattern, the computational
plane-strain model depicts the appearance of different secondary
wrinkling modes such as non-symmetric periodic, period dou-
bling and self-contacting folds, Figs. 5–6. Primary or sinusoidal
wrinkles develop for small compressive strains while the sec-
ondary period-doubling and self-contacting folds modes emerge
for the moderate and high strains. The period-tripling mode after
period-doubling and before self-contacting folds does not form
in the models. One of the reasons for this observation may be
that the period-tripling is an unfavorable mode and only emerges
when the film is inadvertently perturbed [59,60]. The period-
tripling only appears if period-doubling is suppressed. Results
also show that period-doubles for high strains convert to the
self-contacting folds. Figs. 5 and 6 show the transition of the
surface morphology in the different level of the compressive
strain for various thicknesses and elastic moduli of SC. The color
code indicates displacement through the ‘‘y’’ axis in the structure,
low to high by blue to red. From the results it can be seen that
the thickness of the dermis layer, as a substrate in the bilayer
model, is thick enough to prevent the effect of the boundary
condition except for the case with the thickness of the SC layer
equal to 40 µ m in 30% strain which is an exaggerated thickness
for the SC layer. The SC layer wrinkles into a wavy and periodic
pattern once the compressive strain reaches the critical value.
Further compression breaks the symmetry and wrinkles form
non-symmetric patterns such as period-doubling.
It has been shown that the secondary critical condition for
both period-doubling and period-tripling is marginally sensitive
to the ratio of shear moduli [60]. When the stiffness ratio in Fig. 6
is increased, the period-doubling bifurcation points shift further
away from the sinusoidal wrinkling point. At the higher strains,
the period-doubles are converted to the self-contacting folds. In
all models, when the compressive strain increases, the number of
 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647 5

Fig. 5. Various patterns for the compressed skin model with different thicknesses of SC. Sinusoidal symmetric wrinkling, un-symmetric periodic wrinkling,
period-doubling and self-contacting folding form with gradual compression. In all models the elastic modulus of SC is 10 MPa.

Fig. 6. Various patterns for the compressed skin model with different elastic moduli of SC. Sinusoidal symmetric wrinkling, un-symmetric periodic wrinkling,
period-doubling and self-contacting folding form with gradual compression. At the end of process, small wrinkles among large self-contacting folds are observable.
In all models the thickness of SC is 12 µm.

wrinkles decreases. These big folds penetrate to the lower layers
and induce a large bending stress which is not a favorable result.
These deeply penetrated folds could possibly damage the dermis
layer which has been identified as a sign of skin aging. Another
interesting observation is that in the models with high elastic
modulus of SC (60, 100 MPa), small wrinkles form among self-
contacting folds. This phenomenon is not observed in the models
of Fig. 5 for the different thicknesses of SC.
3.2. Skin with microrelief
According to Section 2.1.2, there are two steps in the skin
model with microrelief: first, mapping of microrelief lines and
then compression. Top picture of Fig. 7(a) shows the deformation
of the model after the first step. The contour shows the vertical
displacement in the model (‘‘z’’ direction). In this condition, there
are valleys on the boundary of units and hills at the center of
each unit, similar to natural skin. Considering the contour, it is
clear that the depth of the valleys is not uniform. At the second
step, when compressive strain is applied gradually, small and
consequently large wrinkles start to appear on the surface of the
model. Top row of Fig. 7 shows four snapshots of the evolution of
surface morphology of skin model under the compressive strain.
Initially, there are no wrinkles, but as the compressive strain is
applied step by step, small wrinkles appear in the model to form
primary lines. Interestingly, the edges of connected units create
a path for small wrinkles. As the model is compressed more,
the depth of some valleys increases to form larger wrinkles, top
pictures of Fig. 7(b) and (c). At the end of the process (ε = 30%),
fully developed large wrinkles are observable at the model, top
picture of Fig. 7(d). The bottom row of Fig. 7 shows four snapshots
of a gradually compressed forearm skin to compare with compu-
tational results. Similar to the computational model, at the low
strains, the small and shallow wrinkles form on the surface of skin
and in higher strains some of the shallow primary lines become
deeper to form big wrinkles. The primary and secondary lines
are discontinued and shallow; their depth range is 30-100 µm
and 5-40 µm for primary and secondary lines, respectively [14].
The sites of the primary lines are indicated by the mechanical
factors, and aging and environmental factors alter their depth and
orientation. Wrinkles are readily visible and are much deeper and
less numerous than the primary lines. In the 3D model, unlike
the plane-strain analysis of the smooth skin, wrinkles do not
have uniform shape; also, their wrinkle line is not straight which
resembles natural skin. However, it is obvious that microrelief
acts as an imperfection to facilitate wrinkles formation. These
6 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647

Fig. 7. The evolution of surface morphology of skin model under the compressive strain. (a) ε = 0%, (b) ε = 20%, (c) ε = 25%, (d) ε = 30%. Elastic modulus and
thickness of SC are Esc = 10 MPa, tsc = 12 µm, respectively. The bottom row shows four snapshots of a gradually compressed forearm skin to compare with
computational results.

Fig. 8. The effect of the thickness of SC on the wrinkling morphology of the model; (a) tsc = 12 µm, (b) tsc = 20 µm, (c) tsc = 30 µm, (d) tsc = 40 µm. In all cases
Esc = 10 MPa and ε = 30%. (e)–(f) The cross-section profile of the models in two different Y locations, Y = 3 mm and Y = 7 mm.

results confirm that wrinkle patterns are extremely sensitive to
small imperfections leading to the emergence of spontaneously
changing and complex surface morphologies. We can observe
that microrelief pattern triggers primary and secondary lines. The
small straight lines at Fig. 7(b) are the primary lines, and the small
creases between them are secondary lines. The edges of the mi-
crorelief units are favorable paths to primary and secondary lines
for evolving. The wrinkle patterns of the model are comparable
with the results of other studies [14] which have used imaging
techniques to create microrelief pattern. We speculate that the
number and type of the small and large wrinkles are controlled by
the geometry and mechanical property of the layers. We discuss
it in the following sections.
3.3. Effect of SC thickness
It has been shown that the thickness of the film on the com-
pliant substrate is a crucial parameter in the determination of
instability and post-instability surface morphology of structure
after compression or growth [31,61–63]. Therefore, it can be
expected that the thickness of SC is a determinant factor of
the pattern of wrinkles. The thickness of SC is a very impor-
tant parameter in the drug absorption studies. Moreover, to find
Trans-Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL) it is necessary to measure
SC thickness [64]. There are considerable anatomical site varia-
tions in the thickness of SC and also epidermis, e.g., cheek, volar
forearm, back of hand and palm [65–67]. It has been known
 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647
that the thinnest SC is in the eyelids [68]. Even nowadays, the
exact measurement of SC thickness based on the conventional
method, light microscopy, or other methods such as freezing
technique, high-frequency ultrasonography, pulsed terahertz ra-
diation, and high-frequency magnetic resonance imaging is a big
challenge [18,69–72]. To determine how SC thickness alters the
patterns of wrinkles, we tried four different thicknesses of SC
layer and kept other parameters the same.
The displacement contour along the ‘‘z’’ direction for four
cases with the different thicknesses of SC are shown in Fig. 8(a)–
(d). From the results, we can see that the thickness of the SC plays
a critical role in the evolution of skin morphology. Thicker SC
creates smoother wrinkles with higher wavelength; while in the
model with thin SC (t = 12 µm), topological features related to
the microrelief are more prominent. The number of big wrinkles
for thin SC, Fig. 8(a)–(b), is close to three while for thick SC,
Fig. 6(c)–(d) is close to two and half. Interestingly, for the model
with the small thickness of SC, complex morphology can be seen
in the cross-section of the model, showing three non-symmetric
periodic small wrinkles accompanied with a big fold. The higher
thickness of SC prevents the formation of this complex pattern
and there are only big folds. For all models, the wrinkle patterns
remain constant when self-contact occurs and folds appear [73].
Computationally it has been shown that folding mode may evolve
beyond the period-doubling or period-tripling [60,74]. Fig. 8(e)–
(f) shows the cross-section profile of the models in two different
‘‘y’’ locations. Typically, the depth of folds increases when the
thickness of SC increases. In a study, the linear regression of SC
thickness vs. age indicated a significant thickening of the SC with
aging on all skin sites [75]. This thickening, as our results show,
is not a favorable process as it leads to large and deep wrinkles.
In addition, the formation of deep wrinkles effectively damages
the underlying layers which play a critical role on the elasticity
of the skin. Therefore, one of the ways to avoid early aging could
be controlling the thickening of SC.
3.4. Effect of material property
In addition to the geometrical parameters, e.g., SC thickness,
the material property of the specific layers of the model may
also play a vital role in the wrinkle patterns of skin. However,
as discussed earlier, it is still difficult to characterize mechanical
properties of different layers of skin accurately, because the char-
acterization of skin tissue is highly dependent on the definitions,
tools, and procedures used [2]. Therefore, there is no firm and
proven data for the material properties of different layers, and
there is only a range for them as indicated in Table 1. Hence,
it is worthwhile to find the sensitivity of wrinkle patterns to
the shear modulus between the SC and two other layers (viable
epidermis and dermis). Fig. 9 shows that difference between the
shear moduli of the SC and other layers has a significant influence
on the wrinkle patterns of skin. The skin model with a small shear
moduli ratio prefers to develop very small folds after instability;
however, when the shear moduli ratio is large, the skin model
prefers to wrinkle first and then develop folds. Types of skin
wrinkles in the specific anatomical sites of body prove the results.
For example, facial skin is less elastic than that of the arm and the
back [76]. Therefore, larger wrinkles are formed if it is pinched. As
the shear moduli ratio raises, the depth of the wrinkles increases,
Fig. 9(e)–(f). This observation is consistent with the dependency
of the amplitude of a bucking stiff film on the compliant substrate
to the stiffness of film [77]. As the stiffness of film increases,
the wrinkle amplitude increase, although it is not a linear rela-
tion. Typically, aging causes the human skin to be stiffer [19],
Therefore, as Fig. 9 indicates, the stiffer SC develops wider and
deeper wrinkles. The formation of deeper wrinkles allows the
7
epidermis to penetrate considerably into the dermis. This deep
penetration over the long term causes considerable damage in
the skin and creates hallmarks for permanent wrinkles. Fig. 9 also
mechanically explains why we should make skin softer by using
cosmetic lotion or cream to prevent aging [57]. The moisturizing
of skin reduces the SC stiffness which this method according
to Fig. 4(a) increases the critical strain needed for initiation of
wrinkling and decreases the amplitude of wrinkles as well. In
addition, these results show that the change of the stiffness of
SC caused by abnormalities or disorders may lead to the change
in the pattern of wrinkles.
3.5. Effect of the surface pattern (Microrelief)
In previous sections, we used a fixed pattern for the microre-
lief. The results indicated that edges of microrelief units create
paths for initiation of wrinkling. Nevertheless, we hypothesize
that main wrinkles of a compressed skin are independent of the
microrelief pattern and its unit sizes. To test our hypothesis, at the
first step, we created four microrelief patterns with the similar
size of units but different random patterns. The other geometrical
and mechanical parameters are kept the same.
Fig. 10 shows that for four different microrelief patterns, wrin-
kle patterns qualitatively are similar to each other. If we take a
careful look at the front cross-section, it is clear that the number
of big wrinkles and also small wrinkles among them, largely
are the same for all cases. Fig. 11 shows the top view of four
cases with the big wrinkle paths which have been mapped onto
the initial status. Two big wrinkle paths almost are at the same
location for every model, which indicates that regardless of differ-
ent microrelief patterns, big wrinkles form in the same location.
It is interesting to see that the starting and ending points of
major wrinkles lie exactly in the edges of units. These major lines
prefer to follow the edges of units inside the microrelief as well.
However, the path of lines is not through the edges of connected
units all the time, and there are certain areas in which lines
cross the units. This observation indicates that heterogeneity of
microrelief accelerates the initiation of wrinkles and helps them
to find a suitable path, but the location and number of major
wrinkles are imposed by the geometry and mechanical property
of layers.
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that general wrinkle
patterns are independent of microrelief pattern, and the thick-
ness and material property of layers control them. These surface
imperfections (microrelief) change the critical strain to onset
wrinkling, which is different than the value for an idealized three-
layer structure that does not possess any imperfections [39,78].
Our results, qualitatively, are in agreement with the results of
Ref. [14]. In the mentioned study, at the beginning of the com-
pression process, primary and secondary lines already exist on
the surface of the model. Therefore, after a gradual compres-
sion, big wrinkles evolve to form the primary wrinkles. However,
as Figs. 10 and 11 show, we speculate that characteristics of
compression-induced big wrinkles are preliminarily determined
by the geometrical and material property of skin layers rather
than the natural skin microrelief. The patterns of large wrinkles
and small wrinkles (located between large wrinkles) are similar
to the wrinkle patterns of Fig. 7 of Ref. [12]. They did not simulate
microrelief in their 2D FE model which again proves that with or
without microrelief, wrinkle characteristics are imposed by the
geometry and material property of layers. Despite any condition,
compressive-induced repeating big wrinkles over a long period
of time makes dermal changes and leads to permanent or repro-
ducible wrinkles. These dermal changes act as the markers and,
after compression, wrinkles appear at the same locations.
In the second step, we test the effect of unit size of microrelief
in the wrinkle patterns. To do so, the previous microrelief unit
8 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647

Fig. 9. Effect of elastic modulus of SC on the wrinkling morphology of the model; (a) Esc = 10 MPa, (b) Esc = 30 MPa, (c) Esc = 60 MPa, (d) Esc = 100 MPa. For all
cases tsc = 12µm and ε = 30%. (e)–(f) The cross-section profile of the models in two different depths, Y = 3 mm and Y = 7 mm.

Fig. 10. (a)–(d) The wrinkle patterns for four different microrelief patterns in ε = 30%. The size of the cells is in the same range. For all cases: tsc = 12 µm,
Esc = 10 MPa, and (e)–(f) the cross-section profile of the models in two different depths, Y = 3 mm and Y = 7 mm.

Fig. 11. Mapping the lines of big wrinkles of four cases from Fig. 10 to the initial status of the models before compression. In all cases, the starting and ending
points lie on the edges of the units. In the main area, lines pass either the edges of units or through the units.

size (0.4 mm) is fixed as a reference and then two microrelief pat-
terns with smaller and larger unit sizes are created. The minimum
length of each edge of units were set to 0.2 and 0.6 mm for small
to big microrelief patterns. Fig. 12 shows how the morphology
of the skin is altered by the gradual compression. At the early-
stage of wrinkling (7.5% strain), more tiny wrinkles evolve in
the model with the small unit size, compared to the model with
the large unit size. However, as the strain increases, the effect
of the unit size decreases so that by the end of the process
there is no significant difference in wrinkling patterns observable
between models with small and large unit sizes. At the end of the
compression process, despite the different unit sizes, two cases
have qualitatively similar big wrinkle patterns which confirms
the independence of wrinkle characteristics from the size of the
 P. Chavoshnejad, S. More and M.J. Razavi / Extreme Mechanics Letters 36 (2020) 100647
Fig. 12. The effect of size of the units on the wrinkle patterns of skin model. Left to right shows step by step compression of the model. The final compressive
strain is 30%. (a) model with a small size of units. (b) model with a big size of units. In both models: tsc = 12µm, Esc = 10 MPa.
microrelief units. However, they have a slight difference in the
patterns between big wrinkles. The case with the large units
develops crossing secondary lines between large wrinkles. It is
worth noting that skin microrelief adjusts gradually with age.
4. Conclusion
Skin wrinkles are a natural part of aging. The prevention of
wrinkles is a major concern in the field of dermatology and
cosmetic industry. In order to suppress or reduce wrinkles, it is
important to study the mechanics of wrinkling and aging. The
simplified mechanistic modeling is a powerful tool to help us
have a better understanding of this complex process. Understand-
ing the mechanism of wrinkling and identifying the determinant
control parameters allow us to offer some basic clues toward
avoiding the appearance of wrinkles in skin. In this study by
theoretical and computational modeling, we showed how the ge-
ometrical and mechanical parameters control initiation and mor-
phogenesis of skin wrinkles. A mechanically created microrelief
was mapped on the surface of the proposed three-dimensional
multilayer skin model. We systematically varied the thickness
and material property of Stratum Corneum (SC), outermost layer
of skin, to explore which parameters modulate the emergence of
small and big wrinkles. The computational models revealed that
surface microrelief breaks the symmetry of the compressed skin
model and leads to formation of primary wrinkles in specific loca-
tions. Mostly, the primary wrinkles lie in the connected edges of
adjacent microrelief units. According to the thickness of SC layer
and its material behavior, some of the primary wrinkles under
more compression form big wrinkles. The number and location
of deep wrinkles are not dependent upon the surface microrelief
pattern. However, starting and ending points of wrinkle lines
typically are on the edges of units. The non-linear FE models were
implemented to predict the surface morphology beyond the post-
wrinkling modes and capture the transition into self-contacting
folds in higher compressive strains.
The model presented here is a simplified model of human nat-
ural skin and definitely has several limitations. The dermis layer,
consisting of papillary and reticular sub-layers, has an anisotropic
behavior due to effect of collagen bundles, which in the model
was considered as an isotropic layer. In the model wrinkles are
formed by the compressive strains, while in reality, different
types of wrinkles (atrophic, elastotic, expressional, gravitational)
9
can form as a result of different internal and external stimuli. The
natural skin also has a pretension which has not been considered
here. The effect of the microrelief’s geometric features (unit size,
depth and pattern) on the critical strain for wrinkling has not
been studied in this study, but it is a very interesting topic to
consider for future studies. Another area which needs more study
is the finding of suitable constitutive material model for each
layer of skin. Despite all limitations, the proposed multi-layer
model with 3D surface microrelief offer new findings toward
formation of primary and large wrinkles. The accurate models to
capture the wrinkling and aging of skin are able to help other
researchers in developing artificial skin substitutes and antiaging
products.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
M.R. and P.C. acknowledge the support from the Binghamton
University, US, Start-up research funding.
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