Related papers: Cascade unlooping of a low-pitch helical spring un…
The tridimensional configuration and the twist density of helical rods with varying cross section radius are studied within the framework of the Kirchhoff rod model. It is shown that the twist density increases when the cross section radius…
We describe in this paper a crossbridge model in which an attached crossbridge behaves like a linear spring with a variable rest length. We assume in particular that the rest length has a linear force-velocity relation, and that the force…
We present an elastic model of B-form DNA as a stack of thin, rigid plates or base pairs that are not permitted to deform. The symmetry of DNA and the constraint of plate rigidity limit the number of bulk elastic constants contributing to a…
The ground state of twist-bend nematic liquid crystals is a heliconical molecular arrangement in which the nematic director precesses uniformly about an axis, making a fixed angle with it. Both precession senses are allowed in the ground…
A rich zoology of shapes emerges from a simple stretched and twisted elastic ribbon. Despite a lot of interest, all these shape are not understood, in particular the shape that prevails at large tension and twist and that emerges from a…
We analyze the evolution of the mechanical response of a colloidal suspension to an external tensile stress, from fracture to flow, as a function of the distance from the sol-gel transition. We cease to observe cracks at a finite distance…
Helical structures, almost ubiquitous in biological systems, have inspired the design and manufacturing of helical devices with applications in nanoelecromechanical systems (NEMS), morphing structures, optoelectronics, micro-robotics and…
Fracture in a disordered lattice system is studied. In our system, particles are initially arranged on the triangular lattice and each nearest-neighbor pair is connected with a randomly chosen soft or hard Hookean spring. Every spring has…
We present a general study of oscillations in suspended one-dimensional elastic systems clamped at each end, exploring a wide range of slack (excess length) and downward external forces. Our results apply directly to recent experiments in…
Large deformations of soft elastic beads spinning at high angular velocity in a denser background fluid are investigated theoretically, numerically, and experimentally using millimeter-size polyacrylamide hydrogel particles introduced in a…
The elastic response of mechanical, chemical, and biological systems is often modeled using a discrete arrangement of Hookean springs, either representing finite material elements or even the molecular bonds of a system. However, to date,…
Quasi-static strain-controlled measurements of stress vs strain curves in macroscopic amorphous solids result in a nonlinear looking curve that ends up either in mechanical collapse or in a steady-state with fluctuations around a mean…
Fatigue crack advance induced by the application of cyclic quasistatic loads is investigated both numerically and analytically using a lattice spring model. The system has a quasi-one-dimensional geometry, and consists in two symmetrical…
A thermodynamically related model is developed for describing elastic rubber-like behavior of amorphous and crystallizing polymers and demonstrated on example of simple extension. Both the “entropic” and “energetic”…
We derive a kinetic equation for the electrons moving on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator. Due to the helical nature of the excitations backward scattering is suppressed in the collision integral, and the spin…
We consider a chain of particles connected by an-harmonic springs, with a boundary force (tension) acting on the last particle, while the first particle is kept pinned at a point. The particles are in contact with stochastic heat baths,…
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…
We study DC and AC electrophoresis of silica micro and nanorods in a thin film of a nematic liquid crystal. These particles induce virtual topological defects and also demonstrate nontrivial electrophoresis in a nematic liquid crystal. We…
We perform numerical simulations to study self-assembly of nanoparticles mediated by an elastic planar surface. We show how the nontrivial elastic response to deformations of these surfaces leads to anisotropic interactions between the…
We study the elastic properties of phantom networks of Gaussian and nearly-Gaussian springs. We show that the stress tensor of a Gaussian network coincides with the conductivity tensor of an equivalent resistor network, while its elastic…