Related papers: Nonlinear elasticity of disordered fiber networks
We present a Landau type theory for the non-linear elasticity of biopolymer gels with a part of the order parameter describing induced nematic order of fibers in the gel. We attribute the non-linear elastic behavior of these materials to…
We present a model for disordered 3D fiber networks to study their linear and nonlinear elasticity over a wide range of network densities and fiber lengths. In contrast to previous 2D models, these 3D networks with binary cross-links are…
Recent experiments on crosslinked gels quenched from solvent-rich to solvent-poor conditions show solvent-rich domains embedded in a gel-rich matrix. These domains coarsen and then undergo kinetic arrest at micron scales for hours, before…
We propose and analyze a mathematical model of the mechanics of gels, consisting of the laws of balance of mass and linear momentum. We consider a gel to be an immiscible and incompressible mixture of a nonlinearly elastic polymer and a…
Semiflexible polymers such as filamentous actin play a vital role in the mechanical behavior of cells, yet the basic properties of cross-linked F-actin networks remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we have performed numerical…
We study correlation properties of the generalized elastic model which accounts for the dynamics of polymers, membranes, surfaces and fluctuating interfaces, among others. We develop a theoretical framework which leads to the emergence of…
Continuum elasticity is a powerful tool applicable in a broad range of physical systems and phenomena. Yet, understanding how and on what scales material disorder may lead to the breakdown of continuum elasticity is not fully understood. We…
Disordered filamentous networks with compliant crosslinks exhibit a low linear elastic shear modulus at small strains, but stiffen dramatically at high strains. Experiments have shown that the elastic modulus can increase by up to three…
Using the theory of elasticity of polymer gels we show that large-scale cross-link density patterns written into the structure of the network in the melt state, can be revealed upon swelling by monitoring the monomer density patterns. We…
Isostatic networks are minimally rigid and therefore have, generically, nonzero elastic moduli. Regular isostatic networks have finite moduli in the limit of large sizes. However, numerical simulations show that all elastic moduli of…
We have carried out nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of a system of crosslinked particles under shear flow conditions. As the fraction of crosslinks $p$ is increased the system approaches a gel point at which the shear…
Linearized elasticity models are derived, via Gamma-convergence, from suitably rescaled nonlinear energies when the corresponding energy densities have a multiwell structure and satisfy a weak coercivity condition, in the sense that the…
We study model near-critical polymer gelling systems made of gluten proteins dispersions stabilized at different distances from the gel point. We impose different shear rates and follow the time evolution of the stress. For sufficiently…
Unlike most synthetic materials, biological materials often stiffen as they are deformed. This nonlinear elastic response, critical for the physiological function of some tissues, has been documented since at least the 19th century, but the…
The evolution of viscoelastic properties near the sol-gel transition is studied by performing oscillatory rheological measurements on two different types of systems: a colloidal dispersion and a thermo-responsive polymer solution under…
Disordered elastic networks provide a framework for describing a wide variety of physical systems, ranging from amorphous solids, through polymeric fibrous materials to confluent cell tissues. In many cases, such networks feature two widely…
We study equilibrium configurations of non-Euclidean plates, in which the reference metric is uniaxially periodic. This work is motivated by recent experiments on thin sheets of composite thermally responsive gels [1]. Such sheets bend…
Athermal models of disordered fibrous networks are highly useful for studying the mechanics of elastic networks composed of stiff biopolymers. The underlying network architecture is a key aspect that can affect the elastic properties of…
The nonlinear mechanics of a flexible elastic rod constrained at its edges by a pair of sliding sleeves is analyzed. The planar equilibrium configurations of this variable-length elastica are found to have shape defined only by the…
We construct a three-dimensional lattice model for biological gels in which straight lines of bonds correspond to filamentous semi-flexible polymers and lattice sites, which are exactly four-fold coordinated, to crosslinks. With only…