Related papers: Cutting and slicing weak solids
We consider some basic principles of fluid-induced lubrication at soft interfaces. In particular, we show how the presence of a soft substrate leads to an increase in the physical separation between surfaces sliding past each other. By…
In this paper we investigate the mechanical problem of piercing a soft solid body with a needle. This phenomenon is controlled by the critical condition of needle insertion. Needle insertion involves physical and geometrical nonlinearities…
Soft solids differ from stiff solids in an important way: their surface stresses can drive large deformations. Based on a topical workshop held in the Lorentz Center in Leiden, this Opinion highlights some recent advances in the growing…
We investigate the wrinkling dynamics of an elastic filament immersed in a viscous fluid submitted to compression at a finite rate with experiments and by combining geometric nonlinearities, elasticity, and slender body theory. The drag…
We present our recent study on rough adhesive contacts of viscoelastic materials in steady-state sliding, focusing on the interplay between adhesion and viscoelasticity by means of a novel energy approach. We investigate tribological…
We report on a numerical study of the shear flow of a simple two-dimensional model of a granular material under controlled normal stress between two parallel smooth, frictional walls, moving with opposite velocities $\pm$V . Discrete…
The patterns arising from the differential swelling of gels are investigated experimentally and theoretically as a model for the differential growth of living tissues. Two geometries are considered: a thin strip of soft gel clamped to a…
We measure the drag encountered by a vertically oriented rod moving across a sedimented granular bed immersed in a fluid under steady-state conditions. At low rod speeds, the presence of the fluid leads to a lower drag because of buoyancy,…
Soft adhesive contacts are ubiquitous in nature and are increasingly used in synthetic systems, such as flexible electronics and soft robots, due to their advantages over traditional joining techniques. While methods to study the failure of…
Using shear wave elastography, we measure the changes in the wave speed with the stress produced by a striated muscle during isometric voluntary contraction. To isolate the behaviour of an individual muscle from complementary or…
The form of the stress tensor is investigated in smooth, dense granular flows which are generated in split-bottom shear geometries. We find that, within a fluctuation fluidized spatial region, the form of the stress tensor is directly…
Diffusion of particles in complex fluids and gels is difficult to describe and often lies beyond the scope of the classical Stokes-Einstein relation. One of the main lines of research over the past few decades has sought to relate…
Frictional weakening by vibrations was first invoked in the 70's to explain unusual fault slips and earthquakes, low viscosity during the collapse of impact craters or the extraordinary mobility of sturzstroms, peculiar rock avalanches…
In jamming systems like colloids, emulsions, foams, and biological tissues, significant deformation is essential for processes such as material scraping or wound self-healing. To adequately spread a foam or cream over a surface, external…
How much energy does it take to stamp a thin elastic shell flat? Motivated by recent experiments on the wrinkling patterns of floating shells, we develop a rigorous method via $\Gamma$-convergence for answering this question to leading…
We report the statistical properties of spherical steel particles rolling on an inclined surface being driven by an oscillating wall. Strong dissipation occurs due to collisions between the particles and rolling and can be tuned by changing…
Motivated by the motion of nematode sperm cells, we present a model for the motion of an adhesive gel on a solid substrate. The gel polymerizes at the leading edge and depolymerizes at the rear. The motion results from a competition between…
We do shear-driven simulations of a simple model of non-Brownian particles in two dimensions. By examining the velocity distribution at different densities and shear rates we find strong evidence for the existence of two different…
The shear rheology of dense colloidal and granular suspensions is strongly nonlinear, as these materials exhibit shear-thinning and shear-thickening, depending on multiple physical parameters. We numerically study the rheology of a simple…
The coupling between wind-waves and atmospheric surface layer turbulence sets surface drag. This coupling is however usually represented through a roughness length. Originally suggested on purely dimensional grounds, this roughness length…