Related papers: Optimisation of hierarchical dielectric elastomer …
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…
When electrically stimulated, electroactive polymers (EAPs) respond with mechanical deformation. The goal of this work is to design electrode and EAP layouts simultaneously in structures by using density-based, multi-material topology…
This paper investigates the optimal distribution of hard and soft material on elastic plates. In the class of isometric deformations stationary points of a Kirchhoff plate functional with incorporated material hardness function are…
Nematic elastomers with a locked-in anisotropy direction exhibit semi-soft elastic response characterized by a plateau in the stress-strain curve in which stress does not change with strain. We calculate the global phase diagram for a…
In topology optimization of compliant mechanisms, the specific placement of boundary conditions strongly affects the resulting material distribution and performance of the design. At the same time, the most effective locations of the loads…
Planar electromagnetic actuators based on the principle of linear motors are widely employed for micro and nano positioning applications. These actuators usually employ a planar magnetic platform driven by a co-planar electromagnetic coil.…
We derive the effective energy density of thin membranes of liquid crystal elastomers as the Gamma-limit of a widely used bulk model. These membranes can display fine-scale features both due to wrinkling that one expects in thin elastic…
Lattice relaxation profoundly reshapes electronic structures in twisted materials. Prevailing treatments, however, typically rely on large-scale density functional theory (DFT), which is computationally costly and mechanistically opaque.…
The main objective of this work is to shed light on the effect of fiber plasticity on the macroscopic response and domain formation in soft biological composites. This goal is pursued by analyzing the plane-strain response of two-phase…
Optimized topology of bi-material acoustic metamaterial lattice plates is studied for maximized locally resonant bandgap of flexural guided waves. Optimized layout of the two relatively stiff and compliant material phases in the design…
We develop a reduced model for hard-magnetic, thin, linear-elastic shells that can be actuated through an external magnetic field, with geometrically exact strain measures. Assuming a reduced kinematics based on the Kirchhoff-Love…
Soft actuators allow to transform external stimuli to mechanical deformations. Because of their deformational response to external magnetic fields, magnetic gels and elastomers represent ideal candidates for such tasks. Mostly, linear…
In this paper, the performance of different structural models based on global approach in evaluating the static response of curvilinear fibre composite laminates is analyzed. A Co shear flexible Quad-8 element developed based on…
The binding of proteins onto DNA contributes to the shaping and packaging of genome as well as to the expression of specific genetic messages. With a view to understanding the interplay between the presence of proteins and the deformation…
Robotic systems driven by conventional motors often suffer from challenges such as large mass, complex control algorithms, and the need for additional braking mechanisms, which limit their applications in lightweight and compact robotic…
This paper presents an in-depth examination of the nonlinear deformation induced by dielectric actuation in pre-stressed ideal dielectric elastomers. A nonlinear ordinary differential equation that governs this deformation is formulated…
The mechanical performance of reinforced composites is strongly influenced at different scales by the stress transferred at the matrix-fibre interfaces and at any surface where material discontinuity occurs. In particular, the mechanical…
Soft composite solids are made of inclusions dispersed within soft matrices. They are ubiquitous in nature and form the basis of many biological tissues. In the field of materials science, synthetic soft composites are promising candidates…
In this paper a higher-order mixed finite element method for elastoplasticity with linear kinematic hardening is analyzed. Thereby, the non-differentiability of the involved plasticity functional is resolved by a Lagrange multiplier leading…
A new approach for generating stress-constrained topological designs in continua is presented. The main novelty is in the use of elasto-plastic modeling and in optimizing the design such that it will exhibit a linear-elastic response. This…