Related papers: Relation between the contact force and local geome…
Using classical differential geometry, the problem of elastic curves and surfaces in the presence of long-range interactions $\Phi$, is posed. Starting from a variational principle, the balance of elastic forces and the corresponding…
The shape assumed by a slender elastic structure is a function both of the geometry of the space in which it exists and the forces it experiences. We explore by experiments and theoretical analysis, the morphological phase-space of a…
We study the free energy and dynamics of a closed elastic filament (a one-dimensional curve in two dimensions) whose local internal state is specified by curvature, stretch, and a scalar density field representing, for example, the…
Investigating the geometric effects resulting from the detailed behaviors of the confining potential, we consider square and circular confinements to constrain a particle to a space curve. We find a torsion-induced geometric potential and a…
We present a computational framework for simulating filaments interacting with rigid bodies through contact. Filaments are challenging to simulate due to their codimensionality, i.e., they are one-dimensional structures embedded in…
Motivated to understand the behavior of biological filaments interacting with membranes of various types, we study a theoretical model for the shape and thermodynamics of intrinsically-helical filaments bound to curved membranes. We show…
Cells often divide under mechanical confinement, where surrounding structures restrict shape changes during cytokinesis. Although forces generated during confined division have been measured experimentally, it remains unclear how…
Soft interfaces can mediate interactions between particles bound to them. The force transmitted through the surface geometry on a particle may be expressed as a closed line integral of the surface stress tensor around that particle. This…
To go beyond the simple model for the fold as two flexible surfaces or faces linked by a crease that behaves as an elastic hinge, we carefully shape and anneal a crease within a polymer sheet and study its mechanical response. First, we…
The behavior of an elastic curve bound to a surface will reflect the geometry of its environment. This may occur in an obvious way: the curve may deform freely along directions tangent to the surface, but not along the surface normal.…
We present a newly developed approach for the calculation of interfacial stiffness and contact area evolution between two rough bodies exhibiting self affine surface structures. Using spline assisted discretization to define localised…
The friction and adhesion between elastic bodies are strongly influenced by the roughness of the surfaces in contact. Here we develop a multiscale molecular dynamics approach to contact mechanics, which can be used also when the surfaces…
The motion of an object within a viscous fluid and in the vicinity of a soft surface induces a hydrodynamic stress field that deforms the latter, thus modifying the boundary conditions of the flow. This results in elastohydrodynamic (EHD)…
We present exact numerical results for the friction force and the contact area for a viscoelastic solid (rubber) in sliding contact with hard, randomly rough substrates. The rough surfaces are self-affine fractal with roughness over several…
Curvature plays a central organizational role in active polymer dynamics. Using large-scale Langevin-dynamics simulations, we study active semiflexible filaments confined to smooth curved surfaces and map how curvature, bending rigidity,…
Networks of flexible filaments often involve regions of tight contact. Predictively understanding the equilibrium configurations of these systems is challenging due to intricate couplings between topology, geometry, large nonlinear…
Contact between an elastic manifold and a rigid substrate with a self-affine fractal surface is reinvestigated with Green's function molecular dynamics. Stress and contact autocorrelation functions (ACFs) are found to decrease…
The curvature potential arising from confining a particle initially in three-dimensional space onto a curved surface is normally derived in the hard constraint $q \to 0$ limit, with $q$ the degree of freedom normal to the surface. In this…
We study the mechanical contact between a deformable body with a wavy surface and a rigid flat taking into account pressurized fluid trapped in the interface. A finite element model is formulated for a general problem of trapped fluid for…
Soft elastic filaments that can be stretched, bent and twisted exhibit a range of topologically and geometrically complex morphologies that include plectonemes, solenoids, knot-like and braid-like structures. We combine numerical…