Related papers: Universal Scaling Laws for Deep Indentation Beyond…
Compression of soft bodies is central to biology, materials science, and robotics, yet existing contact theories break down at large deformations. Here, we develop a general framework for soft-body compression by extending the method of…
Extra-large deformations in ultra-soft elastic materials are ubiquitous, yet systematic studies and methods to understand the mechanics of such huge strains are lacking. Here we investigate this complex problem systematically with a simple…
Hyperelastic material characterization is crucial for understanding the behavior of soft materials -- such as tissues, rubbers, hydrogels, and polymers -- under quasi-static loading before failure. Traditional methods typically rely on…
Droplet impacts are fundamental to fluid-structure interactions, shaping processes from erosion to bioprinting. While previous scaling laws have provided insights into droplet dynamics, force scaling laws remain insufficiently understood,…
The classical problem of indentation on an elastic substrate has found new applications in the field of the Atomic Force Microscopy. However, linearly elastic indentation models are not sufficiently accurate to predict the…
In this paper we use a deterministic multi-asperity model to investigate the elastic contact of rough spheres. Synthetic rough surfaces with controllable spectra were used to identify individual asperities, their locations and curvatures.…
While hard-sphere models form the foundation of theoretical condensed matter physics, real systems often exhibit some degree of softness. We present a theoretical and numerical study of a class of nearly hard-sphere systems, generalized…
In this work, we have validated the application of Hertzian contact mechanics models and corrections for the analysis of force vs indentation curves, acquired using spherical indenters on linearly elastic samples, by means of finite…
The surface tension of compliant materials such as gels provides resistance to deformation in addition to and sometimes surpassing that due to elasticity. This article studies how surface tension changes the contact mechanics of a small…
Hertzian contact of a rigid sphere and a highly deformable soft solid is investigated using integrated photoelasticity. The experiments are performed by pressing a styrene sphere of 15 mm diameter against a 44 x 44 x 47 mm$^3$ cuboid made…
The classical models of Hertz, Sneddon and Boussinesq provide solutions for problems of indentation of a semi-infinite elastic massif by a sphere, a sphere or a cone and a flat punch. Although these models have been widely tested, it…
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,…
We study the lubrication of fluid-immersed soft interfaces and show that elastic deformation couples tangential and normal forces and thus generates lift. We consider materials that deform easily, due to either geometry (e.g. a shell) or…
Micro-/nano-indentations have been widely used to measure the mechanical properties of biological cells and tissues, but direct application of classical Hertzian contact model would lead to overestimation of elastic modulus due to the…
We study the indentation of ultrathin elastic sheets clamped to the edge of a circular hole. This classical setup has received considerable attention lately, being used by various experimental groups as a probe to measure the surface…
Experimentally measuring the elastic properties of thin biological surfaces is non-trivial, particularly when they are curved. One technique that may be used is the indentation of a thin sheet of material by a rigid indenter, whilst…
Solid contacts involving soft materials are important in mechanical engineering or biomechanics. Experimentally, such contacts have been shown to shrink significantly under shear, an effect which is usually explained using adhesion models.…
In this letter we derive a universal law for nanoindentation, considering different sizes and shapes of the indenter. The law matches as limit cases all the well-known hardness scaling laws proposed in the literature. But our finding can…
We use molecular simulations to study the nonadhesive and adhesive atomic-scale contact of rough spheres with radii ranging from nanometers to micrometers over more than ten orders of magnitude in applied normal load. At the lowest loads,…
Surface roughness plays a crucial role in the accuracy of indentation experiments used to measure the elastic properties of materials. In this study, we present a computational analysis of how surface roughness, represented explicitly by…