Related papers: An Accessible Instrument for Measuring Soft Materi…
Minimally invasive experimental methods that can measure local rate dependent mechanical properties are essential in understanding the behaviour of soft and biological materials in a wide range of applications. Needle based measurement…
The low elastic modulus of soft materials, combined with geometric nonlinearity and rate dependence, presents significant challenges in the characterization of their mechanical response. We introduce a novel method for measuring the…
Strain-stiffening is a well-documented behavior in soft biological materials such as liver and brain tissue. Measuring and characterizing this nonlinear response, which is commonly considered as a mechanism for damage prevention, is of…
Accuracy in the measurement of mechanical properties is essential for precision engineering and for the interrogation of composition-property relationships. Conventional methods of mechanical testing, such as uniaxial tension, compression,…
Diagnostic activities, such as ultrasound scans and palpation, are relatively low-cost. They play a crucial role in the early detection of health problems and in assessing their progression. However, they are also error-prone activities,…
Characterizing the softness of deformable materials having partial elastic and partial viscous behaviour via soft lubrication experiments has emerged as a versatile and robust methodology in recent times. However, a straightforward…
Soft polymer-based solid materials can be defined as solid materials with elastic moduli below 1 MPa. In order to obtain such a low modulus while retaining a solid character, all these materials are based on a network of fixed points…
There is a growing need for soft robotic platforms that perform gentle, precise handling of a wide variety of objects. Existing surface-based manipulation systems, however, lack the compliance and tactile feedback needed for delicate…
We present a simple method for accessing the elastic properties of microscopic deformable particles. This method is based on measuring the pressure-induced deformation of soft particles as they are forced through a tapered glass…
Soft robotic grippers facilitate contact-rich manipulation, including robust grasping of varied objects. Yet the beneficial compliance of a soft gripper also results in significant deformation that can make precision manipulation…
Mechanical stresses in soft materials across different length scales play a fundamental role in understanding the function of biological systems and in the use of artificial materials for engineering soft machines and biomedical devices.…
Robot-assisted surgery has advantages compared to conventional laparoscopic procedures, e.g., precise movement of the surgical instruments, improved dexterity, and high-resolution visualization of the surgical field. However, mechanical…
This paper introduces a novel Soft Acoustic Curvature (SAC) sensor. SAC incorporates integrated audio components and features an acoustic channel within a flexible structure. A reference acoustic wave, generated by a speaker at one end of…
The rheological characterisation of complex fluids is mostly performed under simple shear flow in rotational rheometers. Their modern commercial versions are extremely sensitive instruments which are able to provide very accurate…
Characterizing the elastic properties of soft materials through bulge testing relies on accurate measurement of deformation, which is experimentally challenging. To avoid measuring deformation, we propose a hydrodynamic bulge test for…
Flexible robots have advantages over rigid robots in their ability to conform physically to their environment and to form a wide variety of shapes. Sensing the force applied by or to flexible robots is useful for both navigation and…
Medical applications of robots are increasingly popular to objectivise and speed up the execution of several types of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Particularly important is a class of diagnostic activities that require physical…
Accurate determination of high strain rate (> 10^3 1/s) constitutive properties of soft materials remains a formidable challenge. Albeit recent advancements among experimental techniques, in particular inertial microcavitation rheometry…
We report contactless measurements of the viscoelastic rheological properties of soft gels. The experiments are performed using a colloidal-probe Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in a liquid environment and in dynamic mode. The mechanical…
Discrete simulation methods are efficient tools to investigate the complex behaviors of complex fluids made of either dry granular materials or dilute suspensions. By contrast, materials made of soft and/or concentrated units (emulsions,…