Related papers: Thickness-dependent secondary structure formation …
A simple model of a polymer with long rigid segments which interact via excluded volume repulsions and short ranged attractions is proposed. The coil-globule transition of this model polymer is strongly first order, the globule is…
Matrix stiffness expressions are derived for the particle movements in an assembly of rigid granules having compliant contacts. The derivations include stiffness terms that arise from the particle shapes at their contacts. These geometric…
Conformations of a crowded neutral semiflexible polymer under confinement near an attractive wall are studied via coarse-grained simulations. We study the effects of the interplay of the length of the polymer, bending rigidity, and the…
We discuss the plastic behavior of an amorphous matrix reinforced by hard particles. A mesoscopic depinning-like model accounting for Eshelby elastic interactions is implemented. Only the effect of a plastic disorder is considered.…
Induced by proteins within the cell membrane or by differential growth, heating, or swelling, spontaneous curvatures can drastically affect the morphology of thin bodies and induce mechanical instabilities. Yet, the interaction of…
Over the past two decades polymer nanocomposites have received tremendous interest from industry and academia due to their advanced properties comparative to polymer blends. Many computational studies have revealed that the macroscopic…
We study a minimal extension of the worm-like chain to describe polypeptides having alpha-helical secondary structure. In this model presence/absence of secondary structure enters as a scalar variable that controls the local chain bending…
Static friction induced by moir\'e superstructure in twisted incommensurate finite layered material interfaces reveals unique double periodicity and lack of scaling with contact size. The underlying mechanism involves compensation of…
We report Monte Carlo results for the fluid structure of a system of dimeric particles interacting via a core-softened potential. More specifically, dimers interact through a repulsive pair potential of inverse-power form, modified in such…
Polymer-coated pores play a crucial role in nucleo-cytoplasmic transport and in a number of biomimetic and nanotechnological applications. Here we present Monte Carlo and Density Functional Theory approaches to identify different collective…
Topological constraint theory has become an increasingly popular tool to predict the compositional dependence of glass properties or pinpoint promising compositions with tailored functionalities. This approach reduces complex disordered…
A fascinating and open question challenging biochemistry, physics and even geometry is the presence of highly regular motifs such as alpha-helices in the folded state of biopolymers and proteins. Stimulating explanations ranging from…
We construct a micromechanical version of an early model for topologically constrained polymers -- a 2D chain amongst point-like uncrossable obstacles -- which allows us to explicitly elucidate the role of topological forces beyond…
When a ribbon or tube is twisted far enough it forms buckles and wrinkles. Its new geometry can be strikingly ordered, or hopelessly disordered. Here we study this process in a tube with hybrid boundary conditions: one end a cylinder, and…
We report the results of Monte Carlo simulations investigating the effect of a spherical confinement within a simple model for a flexible homopolymer. We use the parallel tempering method combined with multi-histogram reweighting analysis…
Brittle topologically close-packed precipitates form in many advanced alloys. Due to their complex structures little is known about their plasticity. Here, we present a strategy to understand and tailor the deformability of these complex…
Monte Carlo computer simulations are used to study the segregation behaviour of two polymers under cylindrical confinement. Using a multiple-histogram method, the conformational free energy, F, of the polymers was measured as a function of…
We investigate the stretching response of a thick polymer model by means of extensive stochastic simulations. The computational results are synthesized in an analytic expression that characterizes how the force versus elongation curve…
The structure of lamellar phases of symmetric $AB$ diblock copolymers in a thin film is investigated. We quantitatively compare the composition profiles and profiles of individual segments in self-consistent field calculations with Monte…
Topology is an important determinant of the behavior of a great number of condensed-matter systems, but until recently has played a minor role in elasticity. We develop a theory for the deformations of a class of twisted non-Euclidean…