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We propose a lattice statistical model to investigate the phase diagrams and the soft responses of nematic liquid-crystal elastomers. Using suitably scaled infinite-range interactions, we obtain exact self-consistent equations for the…
Limiting chain extensibility is a characteristic that plays a vital role in the stretching of highly elastic materials. The Gent model has been widely used to capture this behaviour, as it performs very well in fitting stress-stretch data…
It is highly desirable to discover an electromechanical coupling that allows a dielectric material to generate curvature in response to a uniform electric field, which would add a new degree of freedom for designing actuators.…
The Tangential-Displacement Normal-Normal-Stress (TDNNS) method is a finite element method that was originally introduced for elastic solids and later extended to piezoelectric materials. It uses tangential components of the displacement…
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) that couple deformation and electrostatics have the potential for use in soft sensors and actuators with applications ranging from robotic, biomedical, energy, aerospace and automotive technologies. However,…
Uniaxial stress, as well as hydrostatic pressure are often used to tune material properties in condensed matter physics. Here, we present a setup which allows for the study of the combined effects of quasi-uniaxial stress and hydrostatic…
We investigate the dielectric breakdown of mesoscopic Mott insulators, a phenomenon where a strong electric field destabilizes the insulating state, resulting in a transition to a metallic phase. Using the Landau-Zener formalism, which…
In this paper, we first consider the well-posedness and asymptotic behavior of a one-dimensional piezoelectric beam system with control boundary conditions of fractional derivative type, which represent magnetic effects on the system. By…
We perform exact Statistical Mechanics calculations for a system of elongated objects (hard needles) that are restricted to translate along a line and rotate within a plane, and that interact via both excluded-volume steric repulsion and…
Context: A radial temperature gradient together with an inhomogeneous radial electric field gradient is applied to a dielectric fluid confined in a vertical cylindrical annulus inducing thermal electro-hydrodynamic convection. Aims:…
The rheological parameters of materials are determined in the industry according to international standards established generally on the basis of widespread techniques and robust methods of estimation. Concerning solid polymers and the…
Liquid crystal elastomers realize a fascinating new form of soft matter that is a composite of a conventional crosslinked polymer gel (rubber) and a liquid crystal. These {\em solid} liquid crystal amalgams, quite similarly to their…
To simulate elastic turbulence, where viscoelasticity dominates, numerical solvers introduce an artificial stress diffusivity term to handle the steep polymer stress gradients that ensue. This has recently been shown [Gupta & Vincenzi, J.…
Fatigue simulation requires accurate modeling of unloading and reloading. However, classical ductile damage models treat deformations after complete failure as irrecoverable -- which leads to unphysical behavior during unloading. This…
A large electric field is typically present in anodic or passive oxide films. Stresses induced by such a large electric field are critical in understanding the breakdown mechanism of thin oxide films and improving their corrosion…
Prestress in amorphous solids bears the memory of their formation, and plays a profound role in their mechanical properties, from stiffening or softening elastic moduli to shifting frequencies of vibrational modes, as well as directing…
This paper is concerned with the optimisation of the actuation response of electro-elastic, rank-two laminates obtained laminating a core rank-one composite with a soft phase which constitutes the shell. The analysis is performed for two…
A new variational method for studying the equilibrium states of an interacting particles system has been proposed. The statistical description of the system is realized by means of a density matrix. This method is used for description of…
The mechanical properties of a solid, which relate its deformation to external applied forces, are key factors in enabling or disabling the use of an otherwise optimal material in any application, strongly influencing also its service…
Recent experiments by Kavousanakis et al., Langmuir, 2018 [1], showed that reversible electrowetting on superhydrophobic surfaces can be achieved by using a thick solid dielectric layer (e.g. tens of micrometers). It has also been shown,…