Related papers: Stress reorganisation and response in active solid…
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…
Self-organization phenomena in ensembles of self-propelled particles open pathways to the synthesis of new dynamic states not accessible by traditional equilibrium processes. The challenge is to develop a set of principles that facilitate…
A body immersed in a nematic liquid crystal disturbs the fluid's preferred molecular configuration and increases its stored elastic energy. In an active nematic, the fluid components also generate a stress in the bulk fluid. By introducing…
A nonlinear dynamical system model that approximates a microscopic Gibbs field model for the yielding of a viscoplastic material subjected to varying external stress recently reported in [1] is presented. The predictions of the model are in…
Recent experiments have exploited elastic instabilities in membranes to create complex patterns. However, the rational design of such structures poses many challenges, as they are products of nonlinear elastic behavior. We pose a simple…
We show that a viscoelastic thin sheet driven out of equilibrium by active structural remodelling develops a rich variety of shapes as a result of a competition between viscous relaxation and activity. In the regime where active processes…
Active materials form a class of far-from-equilibrium systems that are driven internally and exhibit self-organization which can be harnessed to perform mechanical work. Inspired by experiments on synthetic active networks we examine limits…
This paper introduces a model for the mechanical response of anisotropic soft materials undergoing large inelastic deformations. The composite is constituted by a soft isotropic matrix reinforced with stiff fibres, that can evolve…
Because of consuming energy to drive their motion, systems of active colloids are intrinsically out of equilibrium. In the past decade, a variety of intriguing dynamic patterns have been observed in systems of active colloids, and they…
Living cells are soft bodies of a characteristic form, but endowed with a capacity for a steady turnover of their structures. Both of these material properties, i.e. recovery of the shape after an external stress has been imposed and…
In nature interactions between biopolymers and motor proteins give rise to biologically essential emergent behaviours. Besides cytoskeleton mechanics, active nematics arise from such interactions. Here we present a study on 3D active…
We present an overdamped continuum description of oriented active solids in which interactions respect the symmetries of space but do not obey the principle of action and reaction. Taking position and orientation as kinematic variables, we…
Active stresses can cause instabilities in contractile gels and living tissues. Here we describe a generic hydrodynamic theory that treats these systems as a mixture of two phases of varying activity and different mechanical properties. We…
A minimal athermal model for the flow of dense disordered materials is proposed, based on two generic ingredients: local plastic events occuring above a microscopic yield stress, and the non-local elastic release of the stress these events…
Stressed soft materials commonly present viscoelastic signatures in the form of power-law or exponential decay. Understanding the origins of such rheologic behaviors is crucial to find proper technological applications. Using an elastic…
Internally generated active stresses drive soft materials into architectures inaccessible to thermal self-assembly. We use a microtubule-based active fluid to assemble and irreversibly restructure actin-fascin networks. Subsequently, we…
Carbon-elastomer composites exhibit complex piezoresistive behaviour that cannot be fully explained by existing macroscopic or microstructural models. In this work, we introduce a network-based modelling methodology to explore the…
A model of saturated hyperelastic porous solids at large strains is formulated and analysed. The material response is assumed to be of a viscoelastic Kelvin-Voigt type and inertial effects are considered, too. The flow of the diffusant is…
The elastic tensor provides valuable insight into the mechanical behavior of a material with lattice strain, such as disordered binary alloys. Traditional stress-strain methods have made it possible to compute elastic constants for ordered…
Mechanical deformation of amorphous solids can be described as consisting of an elastic part in which the stress increases linearly with strain, up to a yield point at which the solid either fractures or starts deforming plastically. It is…