Related papers: The mechanical equilibrium of soft solids with sur…
Surface stress and surface energy are two fundamental parameters that determine the surface properties of any materials. While it is commonly believed that the surface stress and surface energy of liquids are identical, the relationship…
The elastic and adhesive properties of a solid surface can be quantified by indenting it with a rigid sphere. Indentation tests are classically described by the JKR-law when the solid is very stiff, while recent work highlights the…
We study the sliding of elastic solids in adhesive contact with flat and rough interfaces. We consider the dependence of the sliding friction on the elastic modulus of the solids. For elastically hard solids with planar surfaces with…
The modeling of the elastic properties of disordered or nanoscale solids requires the foundations of the theory of elasticity to be revisited, as one explores scales at which this theory may no longer hold. The only cases for which…
The interfacial mechanics of soft elastic networks play a central role in biological and technological contexts. Yet, effects of solid capillarity have remained controversial, primarily due to the strain-dependent surface energy. Here we…
The motion of an object within a viscous fluid and in the vicinity of a soft surface induces a hydrodynamic stress field that deforms the latter, thus modifying the boundary conditions of the flow. This results in elastohydrodynamic (EHD)…
Understanding surface mechanics of soft solids, such as soft polymeric gels, is crucial in many engineering processes, such as dynamic wetting and adhesive failure. In these situations, a combination of capillary and elastic forces drives…
Fluid mechanics can be formulated on dynamical surfaces of arbitrary co-dimension embedded in a background space-time. This has been the main object of study of the blackfold approach in which the emphasis has primarily been on stationary…
We propose an approach to measure surface elastic constants of soft solids. Generally, this requires one to probe interfacial mechanics at around the elastocapillary length scale, which is typically microscopic. Deformations of microscopic…
The elastic deformation of a soft solid induced by capillary forces crucially relies on the excess stress inside the solid-liquid interface. While for a liquid-liquid interface this "surface stress" is strictly identical to the "surface…
Soft solids and their surface deformations control the response of many natural and artificial systems. Yet, their underlying properties are vigorously debated, particularly for polymer networks. While molecular-scale theories predict no…
The dependence of the elastic tensor on the equilibrium stress is investigated theoretically. Using ideas from finite-elasticity, it is first shown that both the equilibrium stress and elastic tensor are given uniquely in terms of the…
The contact between a liquid and an elastic solid generates a stress vector depending on the curvature tensor in each point of the separating surface. For nanometer values of the mean curvature and for suitable materials, the stress vector…
Elastic effects due to lattice strain modify the local equilibrium condition at the solid-solid interface compared to the classical dendritic growth. Both, the thermal and the elastic fields are eliminated by the Green's function techniques…
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…
Using a minimal model of cells or cohesive cell layers as continuum active elastic media, we examine the effect of substrate thickness and stiffness on traction forces exerted by strongly adhering cells. We obtain a simple expression for…
Lubricated sliding contact between soft solids is an interesting topic in biomechanics and for the design of small-scale engineering devices. As a model of this mechanical set-up, two elastic nonlinear solids are considered jointed through…
Softer means stickier for solid adhesives, because material compliance facilitates close contact between non-conformal surfaces. Recent discoveries have revealed that soft materials can exhibit a rich array of new physics arising from…
Friction in static and sliding contact of rough surfaces is important in numerous physical phenomena. We seek to understand macroscopically observed static and sliding contact behavior as the collective response of a large number of…
Soft solids exhibit instability and develop surface undulations due to surface effects, a phenomenon known as the elastic Plateau-Rayleigh (PR) instability, driven by the interplay of surface and bulk elasticity. Previous studies on the PR…