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It has become clear in recent years that the simple uniform wormlike chain model needs to be modified in order to account for more complex behavior which has been observed experimentally in some important biopolymers. For example, the large…

We investigate the role of architected thin films in the interfacial failure properties of bi-layer composites. Our results show that, while graded structures can be used to prescribe failure at the interface, they do not offer significant…

The development of tissue-engineered cardiovascular implants can improve the lives of large segments of our society who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. Regenerative tissues are fabricated using a process called tissue maturation.…

Entangled networks are fundamental in various systems, from biological structures to engineered materials. Current techniques for programming entanglement often rely on intricate chemistry or result in statistically homogeneous networks,…

The wide adoption of thermoplastic composites to reduce weight in structural parts requires reliable numerical methods to account for debonding between overmolded parts. Although cohesive elements are effective for debonding, the need for…

Mycelium-bound composites are promising materials for sustainable packaging, insulation, fashion, and architecture. However, moulding is the main fabrication process explored to date, strongly limiting the ability to design the complex…

The deformations of flagella are important in the motility of single- and multi-flagellated bacteria. Existing numerical methods have treated flagella as extensible filaments with a large extensional modulus, resulting in a stiff numerical…

The modelling of heterogeneous and architected materials poses a significant challenge, demanding advanced homogenisation techniques. However, the complexity of this task can be considerably simplified through the application of micropolar…

A fibrous herringbone-modified helicoidal architecture is identified within the exocuticle of an impact-resistant crustacean appendage. This previously unreported composite microstructure, which features highly textured apatite mineral…

Many biological materials consist of sparse networks of disordered fibres, embedded in a soft elastic matrix. The interplay between rigid and soft elements in such composite networks leads to mechanical properties that can go far beyond the…

Cohesive interactions between filamentous molecules have broad implications for a range of biological and synthetic materials. While long-standing theoretical approaches have addressed the problem of inter-filament forces from the limit of…

We report simulation results on melts of entangled linear polymers confined in a free-standing thin film. We study how the geometric constraints imposed by the confinement alter the entanglement state of the system compared to the…

We present a statistical mechanical study of stiff polymers, motivated by experiments on actin filaments and the considerable current interest in polymer networks. We obtain simple, approximate analytical forms for the force-extension…

This study investigated, experimentally and numerically, the fracturing behavior of thermoset polymer structures featuring cracks and sharp u-notches. It is shown that, even for cases in which the sharpness of the notch would suggest…

This paper presents a synthesis approach in a density-based topology optimization setting to design large deformation compliant mechanisms for inducing desired strains in biological tissues. The modelling is based on geometrical…

We study experimentally the fracture mechanisms of a model cohesive granular medium consisting of glass beads held together by solidified polymer bridges. The elastic response of this material can be controlled by changing the cross-linking…

Encapsulation protects functional layers, ensuring structural stability and improving the quality of assembled van der Waals heterostructures. Here, we develop a model that describes lattice relaxation in twisted bilayers accounting for…

Plasticity is inherent to many engineering materials such as metals. While it can degrade the load-carrying capacity of structures via material yielding, it can also protect structures through plastic energy dissipation. To fully harness…

In the present work, the evolution of damage in periodic composite materials is investigated through a novel finite element-based multiscale computational approach. The methodology is developed by means of the original combination of…

The mechanics of single-chain stretching and rupture are central to understanding the resilience of biological polymers and designing strong and tough soft materials such as double-network gels and multi-network elastomers. In this work, we…