Related papers: Elastic interactions between anisotropically contr…
The response to a localized force provides a sensitive test for different models of stress transmission in granular solids. The elasto-plastic models traditionally used by engineers have been challenged by theoretical and experimental…
Cells exhibit qualitatively different behaviors on substrates with different rigidities. The fact that cells are more polarized on the stiffer substrate motivates us to construct a two-dimensional cell with the distribution of focal…
In vivo, eukaryotic cells are embedded in a matrix environment, where they grow and develop. Generally, this extracellular matrix (ECM) is an anisotropic fibrous structure, through which macromolecules and biochemical signaling molecules at…
We develop a general continuum mechanics framework for active anisotropic plates within the F\"oppl-von K\'arm\'an limit, incorporating a preferential direction and inelastic active contractions in geometrically nonlinear plate theory.…
We study a mixture of extensile and contractile cells using a vertex model extended to include active nematic stresses. The two cell populations phase separate over time. While phase separation strengthens monotonically with an increasing…
The friction and adhesion between elastic bodies are strongly influenced by the roughness of the surfaces in contact. Here we develop a multiscale molecular dynamics approach to contact mechanics, which can be used also when the surfaces…
We show from experiments and simulations on vibration-activated granular matter that self-propelled polar rods in an elastic medium on a substrate turn and move towards each other. We account for this effective attraction through a…
We model numerically the partial normal contact of two elastic rough surfaces with highly correlated asperities. Facing surfaces are unmated and described as self-affine with a Hurst exponent H. The numerical algorithm is based on Fourier…
At low temperatures the interactions between like-oriented steps on a surface are believed to be dominated by elastic repulsions. This belief is based on the results of the classical continuum field theories of elasticity. Electrostatic…
We study synchronization of two cardiomyocytes mediated by elastic interactions through the substrate. Modeling each cell as an oscillating force dipole governed by a Rayleigh-type equation, we derive an effective mechanical coupling from…
We study the effective electrostatic interactions between a pair of charged colloidal particles without salt ions while the system is confined in two dimensions. In particular we use a simplified model to elucidate the effects of rotational…
Periodic structures are a type of metamaterial in which the physical properties depend not only on the details of the unit cell but also on how unit cells are arranged and interact with each other. In conventional engineering structures,…
This article studies the fundamental problem of separating two adhesive elastic fibers based on numerical simulation employing a recently developed finite element model for molecular interactions between curved slender fibers. Specifically,…
Recent experiments suggest that the interplay between cells and the mechanics of their substrate gives rise to a diversity of morphological and migrational behaviors. Here, we develop a Cellular Potts Model of polarizing cells on a…
The interaction between aligned dipoles is long-ranged and highly anisotropic: it changes from repulsive to attractive depending on the relative positions of the dipoles. We report on the observation of the attractive component of the…
A rigid cylinder placed on a soft gel deforms its surface. When multiple cylinders are placed on the surface, they interact with each other via the topography of the deformed gel which serves as an energy landscape; as they move, the…
The excitation of many cells and tissues is associated with cell mechanical changes. The evidence presented herein corroborates that single cells deform during an action potential (AP). It is demonstrated that excitation of plant cells…
Multiphase field models have emerged as an important computational tool for understanding biological tissue while resolving single-cell properties. While they have successfully reproduced many experimentally observed behaviors of living…
Cell crawling requires the generation of intracellular forces by the cytoskeleton and their transmission to an extracellular substrate through specific adhesion molecules. Crawling cells show many features of excitable systems, such as…
Unilateral interparticle interactions have an effect on the elastic response of granular materials due to the opening and closing of contacts during quasi-static shear deformations. A simplified model is presented, for which constitutive…