Related papers: Nonlinear mechanics of thin frames
Mechanical waves that travel without inertia are often encountered in nature -- e.g. motion of plants -- yet such waves remain rare in synthetic materials. Here, we discover the emergence of slow kinks in overdamped metamaterials and we…
This paper investigates the effects of geometric nonlinearity and structural flexibility on the flight dynamics of high-aspect-ratio wings representative of high-altitude long endurance aircraft configurations. A coupled aeroelastic flight…
Origami structures are characterized by a network of folds and vertices joining unbendable plates. For applications to mechanical design and self-folding structures, it is essential to understand the interplay between the set of folds in…
We leverage the snap-through response of a bistable origami mechanism to induce a discontinuous evolution of drag with flow speed. The transition between equilibrium states is passively actuated by airflow, and we demonstrate that large…
Recent experiments have imposed controlled swelling patterns on thin polymer films, which subsequently buckle into three-dimensional shapes. We develop a solution to the design problem suggested by such systems, namely, if and how one can…
Kirigami, an ancient paper cutting art, offers a promising strategy for 2D-to-3D shape morphing through cut-guided deformation. Existing kirigami designs for target 3D curved shapes rely on intricate cut patterns in thin sheets, making the…
Curved beams are basic structural components of Nano-Electro-Mechanical-Sistems (NEMS) whose design requires appropriate modelling of scale effects. In the present paper, the size-dependent static behaviour of curved elastic nano-beams is…
A variational model for epitaxially-strained thin films on rigid substrates is derived both by {\Gamma}-convergence from a transition-layer setting, and by relaxation from a sharp-interface description available in the literature for…
Electrostatic theory preserves charges, but allows dipolar excitations. Elasticity theory preserves dipoles, but allows quadrupolar (Eshelby like) plastic events. Charged amorphous granular systems are interesting in their own right; here…
Propagating transition fronts, in which local interactions sequentially trigger state changes, are widely observed across natural, biological, and engineered systems. While such propagation has been engineered using energy-driven…
Creating complex spatial objects from a flat sheet of material using origami folding techniques has attracted attention in science and engineering. In the present work, we employ geometric properties of partially folded zigzag strips to…
Designing a robot or structure that can fold itself into a target shape is a process that involves challenges originated from multiple sources. For example, the designer of rigid self-folding robots must consider foldability from geometric…
We establish a novel local-global framework for analyzing rigid origami mechanics through cosheaf homology, proving the equivalence of truss and hinge constraint systems via an induced linear isomorphism. This approach applies to origami…
The electronic properties of thin films present quantum-size effects, which are a consequence of the finite size of the system. Here we focus on the investigation of these effects on the electronic energy loss of charged particles moving…
Soft materials exhibit significant nonlinear geometric deformations and stress-strain relationships under external forces. This paper explores weakly nonlinear elasticity theories, including Landau's and Murnaghan's formulations, advancing…
Origami-inspired structures have a rich design space, offering new opportunities for the development of deployable systems that undergo large and complex yet predictable shape transformations. There has been growing interest in such…
Two classes of non-linear elastic materials are derived via two-dimensional homogenization. These materials are equivalent to a periodic grid of axially-deformable and axially-preloaded structural elements, subject to incremental…
The exceptional mechanical properties of graphene have made it attractive for nano-mechanical devices and functional composite materials. Two key aspects of graphene's mechanical behavior are its elastic and adhesive properties. These are…
Recent experiments and simulations have demonstrated that particle-covered interfaces can exist in stable non-spherical shapes as a result of the steric jamming of the interfacially trapped particles, which confers the interface with…
Topological defects are crucial to the thermodynamics and structure of condensed matter systems. For instance, when incorporated into crystalline membranes like graphene, disclinations with positive and negative topological charge…