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It is shown that a compound elastic structure, which displays a dynamic instability, may be designed as the union (or 'fusion') of two structures which are stable when separately analyzed. The compound elastic structure has two degrees of…
From the pragmatic to the symbolic, textiles play a prominent role in some of the most demanding yet ubiquitous scenarios, such as covering the complex and dynamic geometries of the human body. Textiles are made by repeated manipulations of…
We survey the linear viscoelasticity of a new type of transient network: bridged wormlike micelles, whose structure has been characterized recently [Ramos and Ligoure, (2007)]. This composite material is obtained by adding telechelic…
The production of mechanical stresses in living organisms largely relies on localized, force-generating active units embedded in filamentous matrices. Numerical simulations of discrete fiber networks with fixed boundaries have shown that…
The dual formulation for linear elasticity, in contrast to the primal formulation, is not affected by locking, as it is based on the stresses as main unknowns. Thus it is quite attractive for nearly incompressible and incompressible…
To achieve real-world functionality, robots must have the ability to carry out decision-making computations. However, soft robots stretch and therefore need a solution other than rigid computers. Examples of embedding computing capacity…
Integrating silicone with non-extensible materials is a common strategy used in the fabrication of fluidically-driven soft actuators, yet conventional approaches often rely on irreversible adhesives or embedding processes that are…
Analyzing nonlinear conformational relaxation dynamics in elastic networks corresponding to two classical motor proteins, we find that they respond by well-defined internal mechanical motions to various initial deformations and that these…
In view of recent microrheology experiments we re-examine the problem of a rigid sphere oscillating inside a dilute polymer network. The network and its solvent are treated using the two-fluid model. We show that the dynamics of the medium…
We study the friction of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) rubber network sliding, at low velocity, on a substrate on which PDMS chains are end-tethered. We thus clearly evidence the contribution to friction of the pull-out mechanism of…
Equilibrium self-assembly and conventional materials processing techniques fall far short of mimicking dynamic self-actuating processes that are commonplace throughout biology. To bridge the gap between living and synthetic matter, we study…
Block copolymer self-assembly is a fundamental process in which incompatible blocks spontaneously form organized microstructures with broad practical applications. Classical understanding is that the domain spacing is limited by the contour…
Spider dragline silk supercontracts as humidity increases, displaying large axial shortening together with a reproducible macroscopic twist. The physical origin of this torsion remains debated and is often attributed to helically arranged…
We review the physical properties of macromolecular networks, consisting of semiflexible polymers such as actin. We start by giving a theoretical analysis of the conformational statistics and mechanical response of single filaments.…
We propose to use the self-assembly ability of a block copolymer combined with compression-expansion cycles to obtain CdSe quantum dots (QDs) structures of different morphology. The methodology proposed consists in transferring onto mica…
Contractile biopolymer networks, such as the actomyosin meshwork of animal cells, are ubiquitous in living organisms. The active gel theory, which provides the thermodynamic framework for these materials, has been mostly used in conjunction…
The development of smart textile interfaces is hindered by the inclusion of rigid hardware components and batteries within the fabric, which pose challenges in terms of manufacturability, usability, and environmental concerns related to…
Assessing the synthesizability of inorganic materials is a grand challenge for accelerating their discovery using computations. Synthesis of a material is a complex process that depends not only on its thermodynamic stability with respect…
We investigate the mechanical properties of a doubly-clamped, double-layer nanobeam embedded into an electromechanical system. The nanobeam consists of a highly pre-stressed silicon nitride and a superconducting niobium layer. By measuring…
We present a new apparatus that probes simultaneously the macroscopic mechanical response and the microscopic motion in polymer networks under uni-axial strain. The setup leverages photon correlation imaging, a space- and time-resolved…