Related papers: A numerical study of stretched smectic-A elastomer…
The non-smooth dynamics is investigated for an elastic planar metainterface composed by two layers of buckling elements, each one allowing motion on one side only. Through the analogy between buckling and unilateral contact and by assuming…
Simple homogeneous shear flows of frictionless, deformable particles are studied by particle simulations at large shear rates and for differently soft, deformable particles. The particle stiffness sets a time-scale that can be used to scale…
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are soft phase-changing solids that exhibit large reversible contractions upon heating, Goldstone-like soft modes and resultant microstructural instabilities. We heat a planar LCE slab to isotropic, clamp…
We have designed a new experimental setup able to investigate fracture of soft materials at small scales. At high crack velocity, where energy is mostly dissipated through viscoelastic processes, we observe an increasingly large high strain…
Honeycomb-like microstructures have been shown to exhibit local elastic buckling under compression, with three possible geometric buckling modes, or pattern transformations. The individual pattern transformations, and consequently also…
Architected materials achieve unique mechanical properties through precisely engineered microstructures that minimize material usage. However, a key challenge of low-density materials is balancing high stiffness with stable deformability up…
We investigate the phase behaviour of a two-dimensional colloidal model system of ultra-soft particles on a substrate which varies periodically along one spatial direction. Our calculations are based on mean-field density functional theory…
We examine the buckling shape and critical compression of confined inhomogeneous composite sheets lying on a liquid foundation. The buckling modes are controlled by the bending stiffness of the sheet, the density of the substrate, and the…
Using discrete element simulations based on molecular dynamics, we investigate the mechanical behavior of sheared, dry, frictional granular media in the "dense" and "critical" regimes. We find that this behavior is partitioned between…
We introduce a simple mean-field lattice model to describe the behavior of nematic elastomers. This model combines the Maier-Saupe-Zwanzig approach to liquid crystals and an extension to lattice systems of the Warner-Terentjev theory of…
We investigate numerically the yielding transition of a two dimensional model amorphous solid under external shear. We use a scalar model in terms of values of the total local strain, that we derive from the full (tensorial) description of…
We study networks of coupled bistable elastic elements, recently proposed as a model for crumpled thin sheets. The networks are poised on the verge of a localized instability, and the model allows unique access to both local and global…
We present a study of the bend angle distribution of semiflexible polymers of short and intermediate lengths within the wormlike chain model. This enables us to calculate the elastic response of a stiff molecule to a bending moment. Our…
The response of amorphous materials to an applied strain can be continuous, or instead display a macroscopic stress drop when a shear band nucleates. Such discontinuous response can be observed if the initial configuration is very stable.…
Elongated colloidal rods at sufficient packing conditions are known to form stable lamellar or smectic phases. Using a simplified volume-exclusion model, we propose a generic equation-of-state for hard-rod smectics that is robust against…
The accurate measurement of fracture resistance in elastomers is essential for predicting the mechanical limits of soft devices. Usually, this is achieved by performing tearing or peeling experiments on thin-sheet samples. Here, we show…
Liquid crystal elastomers present a rich combination of effects associated with orientational symmetry breaking and the underlying rubber elasticity. In this work we focus on the effect of the network on the nematic--smectic-{\sl A}…
We investigate the weakening of elastic materials through randomly distributed circles and cracks numerically and compare the results to predictions from homogenization theories. We find a good agreement for the case of randomly oriented…
When a thin elastic sheet is confined to a region much smaller than its size the morphology of the resulting crumpled membrane is a network of straight ridges or folds that meet at sharp vertices. A virial theorem predicts the ratio of the…
The buckling of thin elastic sheets is a classic mechanical instability that occurs over a wide range of scales. In the extreme limit of atomically thin membranes like graphene, thermal fluctuations can dramatically modify such mechanical…