Related papers: The Physics of Soft Adhesion
Almost all robotic systems in use have hard shells, which is limiting in many ways their full potential of physical interaction with humans or their surrounding environment. Robots with soft-shell covers offer an alternative morphology…
Three general modes are distinguished in the deformation of a thin shell; these are stretching, drilling, and bending. Of these, the drilling mode is the one more likely to emerge in a soft matter shell (as compared to a hard, structural…
We study the heat transfer between elastic solids with randomly rough surfaces. We include both the heat transfer from the area of real contact, and the heat transfer between the surfaces in the noncontact regions. We apply a recently…
The functionality of adhesives relies on their response under the application of a load. Yet, it has remained a challenge to quantitatively relate the macroscopic dynamics of peeling to the dissipative processes inside the adhesive layer.…
The variation of energies associated with soft matter interfaces where surface inhomogeneities are present. These energies include the total bending and splay energy, the variable surface tension energy, a coupling energy between the total…
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…
The elastic and adhesive properties of a solid surface can be quantified by indenting it with a rigid sphere. Indentation tests are classically described by the JKR-law when the solid is very stiff, while recent work highlights the…
We report, for the first time, some experimental observations regarding a new type of long range interaction between rigid particles that prevails when they are suspended in an soft elastic gel. A denser particle submerges itself to a…
Contact mechanics-based models for the friction of nominally flat rough surfaces have not been able to adequately capture certain key experimentally observed phenomenona, such as the transition from a static friction peak to a lower level…
Soft particles such as microgels and core-shell particles can undergo significant and anisotropic deformations when adsorbed to a liquid interface. This, in turn, leads to a complex phase behavior upon compression. Here we develop a…
Lubrication flows appear in many applications in engineering, biophysics, and in nature. Separation of surfaces and minimisation of friction and wear is achieved when the lubrication fluid builds up a lift force. In this paper we analyse…
Soft membranes are commonly employed in shape-morphing applications, where the material is programmed to achieve a target shape upon activation by an external trigger, and as coating layers that alter the surface characteristics of bulk…
The temperature increase in the contact regions between solids in sliding contact has a huge influence on friction and wear. Here we test an analytical theory for the flash temperature, valid for randomly rough surface with multiscale…
We present a general theory for the contribution from contact electrification to the work necessary to separate two solid bodies. The theory depends on the surface charge density correlation function, which we deduce from Kelvin Force…
Particle surface chemistry and internal softness are two fundamental parameters in governing the mechanical properties of dense colloidal suspensions, dictating structure and flow, therefore of interest from materials fabrication to…
Wetting phenomena are widespread in both natural and technological contexts. Despite the well-established nature of this scientific field and our extensive knowledge of its underlying principles, wetting remains a dynamic and vibrant area…
Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids, even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption…
Surface stress, also known as surface tension, is a fundamental material property of any interface. However, measurements of solid surface stress in traditional engineering materials, such as metals and oxides, have proven to be very…
Colloidal dispersions are prized as model systems to understand basic properties of materials, and are central to a wide range of industries from cosmetics to foods to agrichemicals. Among the key developments in using colloids to address…
We present a detailed numerical study of multi-component colloidal gels interacting sterically and obtained by arrested phase separation. Under deformation, we found that the interplay between the different intertwined networks is key.…