Related papers: Onset of criticality in hyper-auxetic polymer netw…
Low-connectivity polymer networks were recently found to behave auxetically when subjected to small tensions, that is, their Poisson's ratio $\nu$ becomes negative. In addition, for specific state points, numerical simulations revealed that…
Thermoresponsive hydrogels exhibit reversible deswelling at the Volume Phase Transition (VPT), associated to a minimum of the Poisson's ratio $\nu$. Recent numerical investigations uncovered the occurrence of a Hyper-Auxetic Transition…
Materials with a negative Poisson's ratio, also known as auxetic materials, exhibit unusual and counterintuitive mechanical behavior - becoming fatter in cross-section when stretched. Such behavior is mostly attributed to some special…
"Auxetic" materials have the counter-intuitive property of expanding rather than contracting perpendicular to an applied stretch, formally they have negative Poisson's Ratios (PRs).[1,2] This results in properties such as enhanced energy…
Materials with negative Poisson ratio have the counter-intuitive property of expanding laterally when they are stretched longitudinally. They are accordingly termed auxetic, from the Greek auxesis meaning to increase. Experimental studies…
A widely-studied model for gels or biopolymeric fibrous materials are networks with central force interactions, such as Hookean springs. Less commonly studied are materials whose mechanics are dominated by non-central force interactions…
Superhydrophobic materials are often inspired by nature, whereas metamaterials are engineered to have properties not usually found in naturally occurring materials. In both cases, the key that unlocks their unique properties is structure.…
Stretching an elastic material along one axis typically induces contraction along the transverse axes, a phenomenon known as the Poisson effect. From these strains, one can compute the specific volume, which generally either increases or,…
Recent progress in advanced additive manufacturing techniques has stimulated the growth of the field of mechanical metamaterials. One area particular interest in this subject is the creation of auxetic material properties through elastic…
Cross-linked polymer networks with orientational order constitute a wide class of soft materials and are relevant to biological systems (e.g., F-actin bundles). We analytically study the nonlinear force-extension relation of an array of…
Reversible crosslinking is a design paradigm for polymeric materials, wherein they are microscopically reinforced with chemical species that form transient crosslinks between the polymer chains. Besides the potential for self-healing,…
Disordered athermal biopolymer materials, such as collagen networks that constitute a major component in extracellular matrices and various connective tissues, are initially soft and compliant but stiffen dramatically under strain. Such…
Hydrogels of semiflexible biopolymers such as collagen have been shown to contract axially under shear strain, in contrast to the axial dilation observed for most elastic materials. Recent work has shown that this behavior can be understood…
Networks and dense suspensions frequently reside near a boundary between soft (or fluid-like) and rigid (or solid-like) regimes. Transitions between these regimes can be driven by changes in structure, density, or applied stress or strain.…
The structure of polymer networks, defined by chain lengths and connectivity patterns, fundamentally influences their bulk properties. While existing polymer network models connect chain properties to emergent network behavior, they are…
Bilayers, soft substrates coated with stiff films, are commonly found in nature with examples including skin tissue, vesicles, and organ membranes. They exhibit different types of instabilities when subjected to compression, depending on…
We propose a theoretical framework for dealing with a transient polymer network undergoing small deformations, based on the rate of breaking and re-forming of network crosslinks and the evolving elastic reference state. In this framework,…
Under extensional strain, fiber networks can exhibit an anomalously large and nonlinear Poisson effect accompanied by a dramatic transverse contraction and volume reduction for applied strains as small as a few percent. We demonstrate that…
Biological molecules can form hydrogen bonds between nearby residues, leading to helical secondary structures. The associated reduction of configurational entropy leads to a temperature dependence of this effect: the "helix-coil…
We present a theoretical framework for the linear and nonlinear visco-elastic properties of reversibly crosslinked networks of semiflexible polymers. In contrast to affine models where network strain couples to the polymer end-to-end…