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Entangled matter provides intriguing perspectives in terms of deformation mechanisms, mechanical properties, assembly and disassembly. However, collective entanglement mechanisms are complex, occur over multiple length scales, and they are…
Soft elastic composite materials can serve as actuators when they transform changes in external fields into mechanical deformation. Here, we address the corresponding deformational behavior of magnetic gels and elastomers, consisting of…
We give a description of cell diffusion in a soft tissue, paying special attention to the coupling of force, matter, and microforce balance laws through a suitable dissipation principle. To this end, we cast our framework into a multi-level…
The adhesive behaviour of biological attachment structures such as spider web anchorages is usually studied using single or multiple peeling models involving "tapes", i.e. one-dimensional contacts elements. This is an oversimplification for…
Modelling of single cellulose fibres is usually performed by assuming homogenous properties, such as strength and Young s modulus, for the whole fibre. Additionally, the inhomogeneity in size and swelling behaviour along the fibre is often…
When a single long piece of elastic wire is injected trough channels into a confining two-dimensional cavity, a complex structure of hierarchical loops is formed. In the limit of maximum packing density, these structures are described by…
We report on the elastocapillary deformation of flexible microfibers in contact with liquid droplets. A fiber is observed to bend more as the size of the contacting droplet is increased. At a critical droplet size, proportional to the…
Micropillar compression experiments probing size effects in confined plasticity of metal thin films, including the indirect imposition of 'canonical' simple shearing boundary conditions, show dramatically different responses in compression…
Biological cells in soft materials can be modeled as anisotropic force contraction dipoles. The corresponding elastic interaction potentials are long-ranged ($\sim 1/r^3$ with distance $r$) and depend sensitively on elastic constants,…
We present a molecular dynamics study of the contact between a rigid solid with a randomly rough surface and an elastic block with a flat surface. The numerical calculations mainly focus on the contact area and the interfacial separation…
Confined thin structures are ubiquitous in nature. Spatial and length constraints have led to a number of novel packing strategies at both the micro-scale, as when DNA packages inside a capsid, and the macro-scale, seen in plant root…
Self-encapsulated droplets floating at an oil--air interface undergo striking shape changes during evaporation, including flattening and localized loss of membrane tension leading to crumpling and wrinkling. Here we combine experiments,…
One of the central appealing properties of magnetic gels and elastomers is that their elastic moduli can reversibly be adjusted from outside by applying magnetic fields. The impact of the internal magnetic particle distribution on this…
We develop and demonstrate the first general computational tool for finite deformation static and dynamic dislocation mechanics. A finite element formulation of finite deformation (Mesoscale) Field Dislocation Mechanics theory is presented.…
Analytical expressions for the osmotic pressure of electrolytes confined within electrolyte-filled, hollow, charged nanoparticles are studied using contact theorems for cavity nanoshells immersed in a low-concentration electrolyte. Three…
This paper constructs and analyzes a model for the dynamic frictional contact between a viscoelastic body and a moving foundation. The contact involves wear of the contacting surface and the diffusion of the wear debris. The relationships…
An original MEMS-based force sensing device is designed which allows to measure spatially resolved normal and tangential stress fields at the base of an elastomeric film. This device is used for the study of the contact stress between a…
In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. X 12, 031021], we reported experimental observations of ``ultrastable'' states in a shear-jammed granular system subjected to small-amplitude cyclic shear. In such states, all the particle positions and contact…
The transport on top of a periodic two-dimensional hexagonal magnetic pattern of (i) a single macroscopic steel sphere, (ii) a doublet of wax/magnetite composite spheres, and (iii) an immiscible mixture of ferrofluid droplets with a…
We report detailed theoretical investigations of the micro-mechanics and bulk elastic properties of composites consisting of randomly distributed stiff fibers embedded in an elastic matrix in two and three dimensions. Recent experiments…