Related papers: Force distributions and force chains in random sti…
Multiple polymer networks, such as double-network elastomers comprising a sacrificial and a matrix network, exhibit exceptional mechanical resilience, commonly attributed to the formation of an extended damage zone before a crack can grow.…
A theory of stress fields in two-dimensional granular materials based on directed force chain networks is presented. A general equation for the densities of force chains in different directions is proposed and a complete solution is…
Cells sense the geometry and stiffness of their adhesive environment by active contractility. For strong adhesion to flat substrates, two-dimensional contractile network models can be used to understand how force is distributed throughout…
Robustness of routing policies for networks is a central problem which is gaining increased attention with a growing awareness to safeguard critical infrastructure networks against natural and man-induced disruptions. Routing under limited…
We present an experiment in which a horizontal quasi-2D granular system with a fixed neighbor network is cyclically compressed and decompressed over 1000 cycles. We remove basal friction by floating the particles on a thin air cushion, so…
Networks of filamentous proteins play a crucial role in cell mechanics. These cytoskeletal networks, together with various crosslinking and other associated proteins largely determine the (visco)elastic response of cells. In this letter we…
Many organisms have an elastic skeleton that consists of a closed shell of epithelial cells that is filled with fluid, and can actively regulate both elastic forces in the shell and hydrostatic pressure inside it. In this work we introduce…
The dynamics of fibres, modelled as a sequence of inertial beads linked via elastic springs, in turbulent flows is dictated by a non-trivial interplay of their inertia and elasticity. Such elastic, inertial fibres preferentially sample a…
Many fibrous materials are modeled as elastic networks featuring a substantial separation between the stiffness scales that characterize different microscopic deformation modes of the network's constituents. This scale separation has been…
The stress response of polymer double networks depends not only on the properties of the constituent networks, but also on the interactions arising between them. Here we demonstrate, via coarse-grained simulations, that both their global…
The behaviour of elastic structures undergoing large deformations is the result of the competition between confining conditions, self-avoidance and elasticity. This combination of multiple phenomena creates a geometrical frustration that…
Force transmission at large length scales is crucial for such biological functions as cell motility and morphogenesis. The networks that transmit these forces are malleable, patterned by active forces generated at the microscale by…
We study the effect of the spatial distribution of active force dipoles on the folding pathways and mechanical stability of rigid-elastic networks using Langevin dynamics simulations. While it has been shown in Majumdar et al., J. Chem.…
We describe a simple meanfield variational approach to study a number of properties of intrinsically stiff chains which are appropriate models for a large class of biopolymers. We present the calculation of the distribution of end-to-end…
The random fiber bundle (RFB) model, with the strength of the fibers distributed uniformly within a finite interval, is studied under the assumption of global load sharing among all unbroken fibers of the bundle. At any fixed value of the…
We characterize the dynamical behavior of a clamped flexible fiber immersed in wall turbulence over a wide range of natural frequencies by means of direct numerical simulations. Only two flapping states are possible: one where the fiber…
This study investigates the influence of fiber spatial distribution on the transverse mechanical properties of unidirectionally reinforced continuous-fiber composites. A Swelling & Random Migration algorithm was employed to generate…
We introduce novel sets of measures with the goal of describing dynamical properties of force networks in dense particulate systems. The presented approach is based on persistent homology and allows for extracting precise, quantitative…
We study the effects of motor-generated stresses in disordered three dimensional fiber networks using a combination of a mean-field, effective medium theory, scaling analysis and a computational model. We find that motor activity controls…
We present a minimalistic approach to simulations of force transmission through granular systems. We start from a configuration containing cohesive (tensile) contact forces and use an adaptive procedure to find the stable configuration with…