Related papers: Mechanistic Origins of Yielding in Hybrid Double N…
Liquid-crystal networks consist of weakly crosslinked polymers that are coupled to liquid-crystal molecules. The resultant hybrid system has rich elastic properties. We develop a phase field model to describe mechanical properties of a…
Athermal models of disordered fibrous networks are highly useful for studying the mechanics of elastic networks composed of stiff biopolymers. The underlying network architecture is a key aspect that can affect the elastic properties of…
Here, we provide an overview of theoretical approaches to semiflexible polymers and their networks. Such semiflexible polymers have large bending rigidities that can compete with the entropic tendency of a chain to crumple up into a random…
Adding dynamic bonds in polymer networks enables reprocessing and recycling; however the full impact of reversible bonds on dynamic network mechanics remains unclear. We build model dynamic networks and observe substantial deviations from…
Due to their unique structural and mechanical properties, randomly-crosslinked polymer networks play an important role in many different fields, ranging from cellular biology to industrial processes. In order to elucidate how these…
Yield-stress fluid flow through porous media is governed by a strong coupling between rheology and pore-scale geometry, leading to nonlinear, non-Darcy transport and pronounced channelisation near yielding. We develop a pore-network model…
The competition of depletion attractions and longer-ranged repulsions between colloidal particles in colloid-polymer mixtures leads to the formation of heterogeneous gel-like structures. For instance, gel networks, i.e., states where the…
Intermediate filaments are cytoskeletal proteins that are key regulators of cell mechanics, a role which is intrinsically tied to their hierarchical structure and their unique ability to accommodate large axial strains. However, how the…
Adaptive networks are a versatile approach to model phenomena such as contagion and spreading dynamics, critical transitions and structure formation that emerge from the dynamic coevolution of complex network structure and node states.…
Generic interactions e.g. the Coulomb or other long ranged radially symmetric repulsive interactions between monomers of bead-spring model of a semi-flexible polymer induce instabilities in a initially straight polymer chain to form long…
We study theoretically a model system of a transient network of microemulsion droplets connected by telechelic polymers and explain recent experimental findings. Despite the absence of any specific interactions between either the droplets…
We combine an analytically solvable mean-field elasto-plastic model with molecular dynamics simulations of a generic glass-former to demonstrate that, depending on their preparation protocol, amorphous materials can yield in two…
Amorphous solids are ubiquitous among natural and man-made materials. Often used as structural materials for their attractive mechanical properties, their utility depends critically on their response to applied stresses. Processes…
Yield-stress materials, which require a sufficiently large forcing to flow, are currently ill-understood theoretically. To gain insight into their yielding transition, here we study numerically the rheology of a suspension of deformable…
Helical motifs are ubiquitious in macromolecular systems. The mechanism of spontaneous emergence of helicity is unknown, especially in cases where torsional interactions are absent. Emergence of helical order needs coordinated organization…
Entanglement of polymer chains is ubiquitous in elastomers, gels, and biological tissues. While the effects of chain entanglement on elasticity and viscoelasticity of polymer networks have been intensively studied, it remains elusive how…
A transition from solid-like to liquid-like behavior occurs when colloidal gels are subjected to a prolonged exposure to a steady shear. This phenomenon, which is characterized by a yielding point, is found to be strongly dependent on the…
Understanding the mechanical response and failure of solids is of obvious importance in their use as structural materials. The nature of plastic deformation leading to yielding of amorphous solids has been vigorously pursued in recent…
Multilayer networked systems are ubiquitous in nature and engineering, and the robustness of these systems against failures is of great interest. A main line of theoretical pursuit has been percolation induced cascading failures, where…
Instability patterns of rolling up a sleeve appear more intricate than the ones of walking over a rug on floor, both characterized as uniaxially compressed soft-film/stiff-substrate systems. This can be explained by curvature effects. To…