Related papers: Optimal power and efficiency of odd engines

Mechanical metamaterials are architected manmade materials that allow for unique behaviors not observed in nature, making them promising candidates for a wide range of applications. Existing metamaterials lack tunability as their properties…

An equilibrium reversible cycle with a certain engine to transduce the energy of any chemical reaction into mechanical energy is proposed. The efficiency for chemical energy transduction is also defined so as to be compared with Carnot…

Disordered materials are often out of equilibrium and evolve very slowly. This allows a memory of the imposed strains or preparation conditions to be encoded in the material. Here we consider "directed aging", where the elastic properties…

In this work, the mechanical response oF an one-dimensional active solid -- defined as a network of active stochastic particles interacting by nonlinear hard springs -- subject to an external deformation force, is numerically studied and…

Energy conversion is most efficient for micro or nano machines with tight coupling between input and output power. To reach meaningful amounts of power, ensembles of $N$ such machines must be considered. We use a model system to demonstrate…

A key feature of mechanical structures ranging from crumple zones in cars to padding in packaging is their ability to provide protection by absorbing mechanical energy. Designing structures to efficiently meet these needs has profound…

Spinodal metamaterials, with architectures inspired by natural phase-separation processes, have presented a significant alternative to periodic and symmetric morphologies when designing mechanical metamaterials with extreme performance.…

The fundamental issue in the energetic performance of power plants, working both as traditional fuel engines and as combined cycle turbine (gas-steam), lies in quantifying the internal irreversibilities which are associated with the working…

The use of machine learning to estimate the energy of a group of atoms, and the forces that drive them to more stable configurations, has revolutionized the fields of computational chemistry and materials discovery. In this domain, rigorous…

A topology optimization method is presented for the design of periodic microstructured materials with prescribed homogenized nonlinear constitutive properties over finite strain ranges. The mechanical model assumes linear elastic isotropic…

Materials science inherently spans disciplines: experimentalists use advanced microscopy to uncover micro- and nanoscale structure, while theorists and computational scientists develop models that link processing, structure, and properties.…

Compared to rigid actuators, Series Elastic Actuators (SEAs) offer a potential reduction of motor energy consumption and peak power, though these benefits are highly dependent on the design of the torque-elongation profile of the elastic…

A very promising approach to obtain efficient upconversion of light is the use of triplet-triplet annihilation of excitations in molecular systems. In real materials, besides upconversion, many other physical processes take place -…

In this article, we introduce the concept of energy-variational solutions for a large class of systems of nonlinear evolutionary partial differential equations. Under certain convexity assumptions, the existence of such solutions can be…

Starting with Carnot engine, the ideal efficiency of a heat engine has been associated with quasi-static transformations and vanishingly small output power. Here, we exactly calculate the thermodynamic properties of a isothermal heat…

Many objects, especially these made by humans, are symmetric, e.g. cars and aeroplanes. This paper addresses the estimation of 3D structures of symmetric objects from multiple images of the same object category, e.g. different cars, seen…

We extend the theory of structured deformations to the setting of linearized elasticity by providing an integral representation for the underlying energy that features bulk and surface contributions. Our derivation is obtained both via a…

We study the efficiency fluctuations of a stochastic heat engine made of $N$ interacting unicyclic machines and undergoing a phase transition in the macroscopic limit. Depending on $N$ and on the observation time, the machine can explore…

Materials that are lightweight yet exhibit superior mechanical properties are of compelling importance for several technological applications that range from aircrafts to household appliances. Lightweight materials allow energy saving and…

Natural materials often feature a combination of soft and stiff phases, arranged to achieve excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength and toughness. Many natural materials have even independently evolved to have similar…