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Microspine grippers are small spines commonly found on insect legs that reinforce surface interaction by engaging with asperities to increase shear force and traction. An array of such microspines, when integrated into the limbs or…
Topologically interlocked material systems are two-dimensional assemblies of unit elements from which no element can be removed from the assembly without disassembly of the entire system. Consequently, such tile assemblies are able to carry…
Shear banding and stick-slip instabilities have been long observed in sheared granular materials. Yet, their microscopic underpinnings, interdependencies and variability under different loading conditions have not been fully explored. Here,…
We investigate the sliding of objects on an inclined granular surface close to the avalanche threshold. Our experiments show that the stability is driven by the surface deformations. Heavy objects generate footprint-like deformations which…
Precipitation strengthening is one of the most effective methods to design alloys with the desired combination of strength and ductility. The main mechanism of strengthening is generally known to be the interaction between dislocations and…
We study the outflow dynamics and clogging phenomena of mixtures of soft, elastic low-friction spherical grains and hard frictional spheres of similar size in a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) silo with narrow orifice at the bottom. Previous…
Most engineered pilings require substantially more force to be driven into the ground than they can resist during extraction. This requires relatively heavy equipment for insertion, which is problematic for anchoring in hard-to-access…
We measured experimentally the static friction force $F_s$ on the surface of a glass rod immersed in dry sand. We observed that $F_s$ is extremely sensitive to the closeness of packing of grains. A linear increase of the grain-density…
Granular material that is bound by the low gravity of a small asteroid is mobilized by slow velocity impacts. These splashes generated by impacts might play an important role in sculpting the asteroid's surface. In laboratory experiments we…
Like in liquids, objects moving in granular materials experience a drag force. We investigate here whether and how the object acceleration affect this drag force. The study is based on simulations of a canonical drag test, which involves…
We consider an elastic composite material containing particulate inclusions in a soft elastic matrix that is bounded by a rigid wall, e.g., the substrate. If such a composite serves as a soft actuator, forces are imposed on or induced…
Polymer-related materials exhibit rich glassy behaviors at different length scales due to their various molecular structures and topological constraints. Recent studies have identified transient interpenetration of the long-chain rings…
Rigid multi-link robotic arms face a tradeoff between their overall reach distance (the workspace), and how compactly they can be collapsed (the storage volume). Increasing the workspace of a robot arm requires longer links, which adds…
Scales engagement can contribute significantly to nonlinear bending behavior of elastic substrates with rigid biomimetic scales. In this letter, we investigate the role of friction in modulating the nonlinearity that arises due to…
The particle discrete element simulation of the instability and failure process of the granular slope accumulator model when the metal plate continues downward is obtained, and the two-dimensional total velocity vector of soil particle…
Anyone who has built a sandcastle recognizes that the addition of liquid to granular materials increases their stability. However, measurements of this increased stability often conflict with theory and with each other [1-7]. A…
Granular materials, composed of discrete solid grains, can be modeled as simple mechanical systems. However, these materials can undergo spontaneous slow deformation, or creep, even under small forces and while in apparent mechanical…
The collapse of an inclined cohesive granular layer triggered by a certain perturbation can be a model for not only landslides on Earth but also relaxations of asteroidal surface terrains. To understand such terrain dynamics, we conduct a…
We report on a series of experiments in which a grain-sized intruder is pushed by a spring through a 2D granular material comprised of photoelastic disks in a Couette geometry. We study the intruder dynamics as a function of packing…
How friction affects adhesion is addressed. The problem is considered in the context of a very stiff sphere adhering to a compliant, isotropic, linear elastic substrate, and experiencing adhesion and frictional slip relative to each other.…