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Constitutive equations are derived for the viscoelastic response of rubbery polymers at finite strains. A polymer is thought of as a network of long chains connected to temporary junctions. At a random time, a chain detaches from a…
Polymers exhibiting the stress-free two-way shape-memory effect (SME) represent an appealing solution to achieve self-standing reversible actuation that is a fundamental feature required by numerous applications. The present paper proposes…
We perform molecular dynamics simulations under uniaxial tension to investigate the micromechanisms underlying strain hardening in glassy polymers. By decomposing the stress into virial components associated with pair, bond, and angle…
We study a one-parameter family of probability measures on lozenge tilings of large regular hexagons that interpolates between the uniform measure on all possible tilings and a particular fully frozen tiling. The description of the…
The properties of a semiflexible polymer with fixed ends exposed to oscillatory shear flow are investigated by simulations. The two-dimensionally confined polymer is modeled as a linear bead-spring chain, and the interaction with the fluid…
Topological mechanical metamaterials have enabled new ways to control stress and deformation propagation. Exemplified by Maxwell lattices, they have been studied extensively using a linearized formalism. Herein, we study a two-dimensional…
We elucidate the polymer dynamics of a liquid crystal elastomer based on the time-dependent response of the pendent liquid crystal mesogens. The molecular tilt and switching time of mesogens are analyzed as a function of temperature and…
A methodology for the statistical mechanical analysis of polymeric chains under tension introduced previously is extended to include torque. The response of individual bonds between monomers or of entire groups of monomers to a combination…
We present a multiscale model bridging length and time scales from molecular to continuum levels with the objective of predicting the yield behavior of amorphous glassy polyethylene (PE). Constitutive parameters are obtained from molecular…
The breakage of a polymer chain of segments, coupled by anharmonic bonds with applied constant external tensile force is studied by means of Molecular Dynamics simulation. We show that the mean life time of the chain becomes progressively…
Thermally-driven semi-crystalline polymer networks are capable to achieve both the one-way shape-memory effect and two-way shape-memory effect under stress and stress-free conditions, therefore representing an appealing class of polymers…
Recent experiments have demonstrated that the nonlinear elasticity of in vitro networks of the biopolymer actin is dramatically altered in the presence of a flexible cross-linker such as the abundant cytoskeletal protein filamin. The basic…
Using Langevin dynamics complemented by Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulations, we study the phase behavior of single and multiple semiflexible polymer chains in solution under poor-solvent conditions. In the case of a single chain, we obtain…
We study two closely related, nonlinear models of a viscoplastic solid. These models capture essential features of plasticity over a wide range of strain rates and applied stresses. They exhibit inelastic strain relaxation and steady flow…
We investigate, via three-dimensional atomistic computer simulations, phase separation in an alloy under external load. A regular two-dimensional array of cylindrical precipitates, forming a mesoscopic precipitate lattice, evolves in the…
Molecular modeling of thermally activated chemistry in condensed phases is essential to understand polymerization, depolymerization, and other processing steps of molecular materials. Current methods typically combine molecular dynamics…
The linear viscoelastic response of single semiflexible polymer chains in the infinite-dilution limit is studied using Brownian dynamics simulations of coarse-grained bead-spring chains. The springs obey the FENE-Fraenkel force law, a…
We develop an energy-landscape based elasto-plastic model to understand the behaviour of amorphous solids under uniform and cyclic shear. Amorphous solids are modeled as being composed of mesoscopic sub-volumes, each of which may occupy…
Deformations of amorphous polymer networks prepared with significant concentrations of liquid crystalline mesogens have been recently reported to undergo mechanotropic phase transitions. Here, we report that these mechanotropic phase…
Combining elastic incoherent neutron scattering experiments at different resolutions with molecular dynamics simulations, we report the observation of a protein-like dynamical transition in linear chains of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). We…