Related papers: Novel design strategies for modulating conductive …

This paper focuses on the homogenization of high-contrast dielectric elastomer composites, materials that deform in response to electrical stimulation. The considered heterogeneous material consisting of an ambient material with inserted…

The design of compliant mechanisms is crucial in several technologies and relies on the availability of solutions for nonlinear structural problems. One of these solutions is given and experimentally validated in the present article for a…

This paper presents a novel, modular, cable-driven soft robotic arm featuring multi-segment reconfigurability. The proposed architecture enables a stackable system with independent segment control, allowing scalable adaptation to diverse…

The concept of concurrent material and structure optimization aims at alleviating the computational discovery of optimum microstructure configurations in multiphase hierarchical systems, whose macroscale behavior is governed by their…

Continuous adaptation allows survival in an ever-changing world. Adjustments in the synaptic coupling strength between neurons are essential for this capability, setting us apart from simpler, hard-wired organisms. How these changes can be…

Predicting the behaviour of complex systems is one of the main goals of science. An important example is plastic deformation of micron-scale crystals, a process mediated by collective dynamics of dislocations, manifested as broadly…

Within periodic materials and structures, wave scattering and dispersion occur across constituent material interfaces leading to a banded frequency response. In an earlier paper, the elastodynamics of one-dimensional periodic materials and…

Fatigue simulation requires accurate modeling of unloading and reloading. However, classical ductile damage models treat deformations after complete failure as irrecoverable -- which leads to unphysical behavior during unloading. This…

Over the past decade or two, the concept has emerged of using multiple types of weak interactions simultaneously to enhance the mechanical properties of elastomers. These weak interactions include physical entanglements, hydrogen bonds,…

This paper presents a computational framework for the robust stiffness design of hyperelastic structures at finite deformations subject to various uncertain sources. In particular, the loading, material properties, and geometry…

Memory-forming properties introduce a new paradigm to the design of adaptive materials. In dense suspensions, an adaptive response is enabled by non-Newtonian rheology; however, typical suspensions have little memory, which implies rapid…

Understanding the fracture mechanics of soft solids remains a fundamental challenge due to their complex, nonlinear responses under large deformations. While multiaxial loading is key to probing their mechanical behavior, the role of such…

Organic electronics is very promising due to the flexibility, modifiability as well as variety of the available organic molecules. Efforts are going on to use organic materials for the realization of memory devices. In this regard resistive…

Smart surfaces that reversibly change the interfacial friction coefficients in response to external stimuli enable a wide range of applications, such as grips, seals, brake pads, packaging films, and fabrics. Here a new concept of such a…

Strain is attracting much interest as a mean to tune the properties of thin exfoliated two-dimensional materials and their heterostructures. Numerous devices to apply tunable uniaxial strain are proposed in the literature, but only few for…

Tactile sensation is essential for humans to recognize objects. Various devices have been developed in the past for tactile presentation by electrostatic force, which are easy to configure devices, but there is currently no such device that…

Soft adhesive pads are needed for many robotics applications, and one approach is based on electroadhesion. Here we present a general analytic model and numerical results for electroadhesion for soft solids with arbitrary time-dependent…

The nonlinear response of driven complex materials -- disordered magnets, amorphous media, crumpled sheets -- features intricate transition pathways where the system repeatedly hops between metastable states. % which encode memory effects.…

A concept of a planar modular mechanical metamaterial inspired by the nature's principle of local adaptivity is proposed. The metamaterial consists of identical pieces similar to jigsaw puzzle tiles. Their rotation within assembly provides…

Soft and frangible materials that remodel under flow can give rise to branched patterns shaped by material properties, boundary conditions, and the time scales of forcing. We present a general theoretical framework for emergent branching in…