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Epoxy polymers are an important class of material for use in various applications. Due to their hydrophilic nature, epoxy resins tend to absorb moisture. Absorption of moisture degrades the functional, structural and mechanical properties.…
In this article, we present a mathematical model that answers a classical question concerning how much force, which is generally called static friction force, will it require to initiate the motion of a soft solid block such as gel, rubber…
Friction in static and sliding contact of rough surfaces is important in numerous physical phenomena. We seek to understand macroscopically observed static and sliding contact behavior as the collective response of a large number of…
Progressive damage, which eventually leads to failure, is ubiquitous in biological and synthetic polymers. The simplest case to consider is that of elastomeric materials, which can undergo large reversible deformations with negligible rate…
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) are block copolymeric materials composed of plastomeric "hard" and elastomeric "soft" domains, by which they exhibit highly resilient yet dissipative large deformation features depending on volume fractions…
Liquid crystal elastomers realize a fascinating new form of soft matter that is a composite of a conventional crosslinked polymer gel (rubber) and a liquid crystal. These {\em solid} liquid crystal amalgams, quite similarly to their…
A geometrically nonlinear continuum mechanical theory is formulated for deformation and failure behaviors of amorphous polymers. The model seeks to capture material response over a range of loading rates, temperatures, and stress states…
Recent theoretical and computational progress has led to unprecedented understanding of symmetry-breaking instabilities in 2D dynamic fracture. At the heart of this progress resides the identification of two intrinsic, near crack tip length…
In this study, the effects of prepreg out time on the mechanical and fracture properties of Discontinuous Fiber Composites (DFCs) are investigated. Carbon fiber prepregs are aged at 0x, 1x, 2x, and 3x the out life in an environmental…
What characterises a solid is its way to respond to external stresses. Ordered solids, such crystals, display an elastic regime followed by a plastic one, both well understood microscopically in terms of lattice distortion and dislocations.…
Soft robotics requires materials that are capable of large deformation and amenable to actuation with external stimuli such as electric fields. Energy harvesting, biomedical devices, flexible electronics and sensors are some other…
It is shown here that fracture after a brief plastic strain, typically of a few percents, is a necessary consequence of the polycrystalline nature of the materials. The polycrystal undergoing plastic deformation is modeled as a flowing…
Potential energy stored during the inter-seismic period by tectonic loading around faults is released during earthquakes as radiated energy, heat and fracture energy. The latter is of first importance since it controls the nucleation,…
We study the dependence of the fracture surface energy on the pulling velocity for nano-porous polypropylene (PP) sheets to find two components: the static and dynamic ones. We show that these terms can be interpreted respectively as…
If a porous media is being damaged by excessive stress, the elastic matrix at every infinitesimal volume separates into a 'solid' and a 'broken' component. The 'solid' part is the one that is capable of transferring stress, whereas the…
In this paper a new integral equation solution to the elastic-plastic problem of functionally graded bars under torsional loading is presented. The formulation is general in the sense that it can be applied to an arbitrary cross-section…
Design of large composite structures requires understanding the scaling of their mechanical properties, an aspect often overlooked in the literature on composites. This contribution analyzes, experimentally and numerically, the…
A continuum model of fracture that describes, in principle, the propagation and interaction of arbitrary distributions of cracks and voids with evolving topology without a fracture criterion is developed. It involves a 'law of motion' for…
Fragility is an empirical property that describes how abruptly a glass-forming material solidifies upon supercooling. The degree of fragility carries important implications for the functionality and processability of a material, as well as…
In impermeable media, a hydraulic fracture can continue to expand even without additional fluid injection if its volume exceeds the limiting volume of a hydrostatically loaded radial fracture. This limit depends on the mechanical properties…