Related papers: Viscoelastic multiscaling in immersed networks
Flexible piezoelectric devices made of polymeric materials are widely used for micro- and nano-electro-mechanical systems. In particular, numerous recent applications concern energy harvesting. Due to the importance of computational…
The influence of compressibility on the coefficient of restitution in the normal impact of a rigid sphere onto a linear-viscoelastic compressible standard solid under quasi-static conditions is studied using a numerical solution procedure…
Soft tissues - such as ligaments and tendons - primarily consist of solid (collagen, predominantly) and liquid phases. Understanding the interaction between such components and how they change under physiological loading sets the basis for…
The microscopic dynamics of objects suspended in a fluid determines the macroscopic rheology of a suspension. For example, as shown by Danker and Misbah [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 98}, 088104 (2007)], the viscosity of a dilute suspension of…
The objective of this thesis is to advance the understanding of complex physical phenomena through the lens of statistical physics. Specifically, it addresses two fundamental questions: What types of interactions can induce buckling of…
The contact between a rigid Hertzian indenter and an adhesive broad-band viscoelastic substrate is considered. The material behaviour is described by a modified power law model, which is characterized by only four parameters, the glassy and…
Two approaches to incorporate heterogeneity in discrete models are compared. In the first, standard approach, the heterogeneity is dictated by geometrical structure of the discrete system. In the second approach, the heterogeneity is…
The buckling of a soft elastic sample under growth or swelling has highlighted a new interest in materials science, morphogenesis, and biology or physiology. Indeed, the change of mass or volume is a common fact of any living species, and…
The structure and degree of order in soft matter and other materials is intimately connected to the nature of the interactions between the particles. One important research goal is to find suitable control mechanisms, to enhance or suppress…
The research fields of microfluidics and soft robotics both involve complex small-scale internal channel networks, embedded within a solid structure. This work examines leveraging viscous peeling as a mechanism to create and activate soft…
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,…
Living soft tissues appear to promote the development and maintenance of a preferred mechanical state within a defined tolerance around a so-called set-point. This phenomenon is often referred to as mechanical homeostasis. In contradiction…
A general model covering a large variety of the so-called adhesive or cohesive, possibly also frictional, contact interfaces between visco-elastic bodies with inertia considered in a thermodynamical context is presented. A semi-implicit…
One of the essential questions in the area of granular matter is, how to obtain macroscopic tensorial quantities like stress and strain from ``microscopic'' quantities like the contact forces in a granular assembly. Different averaging…
Fluctuating hydrodynamics provides a framework connecting mesoscopic fluctuations with macroscopic transport behavior. To bridge mesoscopic and macroscopic transport from microscopic dynamics, we introduce a wavenumber-dependent viscosity,…
We report a numerical investigation of the visco-elastic behavior in models for steric repulsive and short-range attractive colloidal suspensions, along different paths in the attraction-strength vs packing fraction plane. More…
In contrast with ordinary materials, living matter drives its own motion by generating active, out-of-equilibrium internal stresses. These stresses typically originate from localized active elements embedded in an elastic medium, such as…
The classical Hertzian contact model establishes a monotonic correlation between contact force and area. Here, we showed that the interplay between local friction and structural instability can deliberately lead to unconventional contact…
We study the mechanics of a reversible decohesion (unzipping) of an elastic layer subjected to quasi-static end-point loading. At the micro level the system is simulated by an elastic chain of particles interacting with a rigid foundation…
Granular materials are ubiquitous in nature and are used extensively in daily life and in industry. The modeling of these materials remains challenging; therefore, finding models with acceptable predictive accuracy that at the same time…