Related papers: A simple microscopic model for the dynamics of adh…

Collagen fibrils are the most important structural component of tendons. Their crimped structure and parallel arrangement within the tendon lead to a distinctive non-linear stress-strain curve when a tendon is stretched. Microstructural…

Brittle materials fail catastrophically. In consequence of their limited flaw-tolerance, failure occurs by localized fracture and is typically a dynamic process. Recently, experiments on epithelial cell monolayers have revealed that this…

The yield stress is a defining feature of amorphous materials which is difficult to analyze theoretically, because it stems from the strongly non-linear response of an arrested solid to an applied deformation. Mode-coupling theory predicts…

We investigate numerically the failure process when two elastic media, one hard and one soft that have been glued together thus forming a common interface, are pulled apart. We present three main results: (1) The area distribution of…

The poromechanical behaviour of hardened cement paste under isotropic loading is studied on the basis of an experimental testing program of drained, undrained and unjacketed compression tests. The macroscopic behaviour of the material is…

We study a cascading edge failure mechanism on a connected random graph with a prescribed degree sequence, sampled using the configuration model. This mechanism prescribes that every edge failure puts an additional strain on the remaining…

Thick adhesive layers have potential structural application in ship construction for the joining of a composite superstructure to a steel hull. The purpose of this study is to develop a mechanics model for the adhesive fracture of such lap…

Multi-phase materials are key for modern engineering applications. They are generally characterized by a high strength and ductility. Many of these materials fail by ductile fracture of the, generally softer, matrix phase. In this work we…

Curved elastic shells can be fabricated through molding or by harnessing residual stresses. These shells often exhibit snap-through behavior and multistability when loaded. We present a unique way of fabricating curved elastic shells that…

Elucidating the interplay of defect and stress at the microscopic level is a fundamental physical problem that has strong connection with materials science. Here, based on the two-dimensional crystal model, we show that the instability mode…

In order to develop predictive wear laws, relevant material parameters and their influence on the wear rate need to be identified. Despite decades of research, there is no agreement on the mathematical form of wear equations and even the…

We develop a theory for drying-induced stresses in sessile, poroelastic drops undergoing evaporation on rigid surfaces. Using a lubrication-like approximation, the governing equations of three-dimensional nonlinear poroelasticity are…

The yielding of foams, concentrated emulsions, pastes and other soft materials under applied strain is often characterized by measuring the complex shear modulus as a function of strain amplitude at low frequency. Results obtained for…

We probe the dynamic strength of multiple biotin-streptavidin adhesion bonds under linear loading using the biomembrane force probe setup for dynamic force spectroscopy. Measured rupture force histograms are compared to results from a…

We study the necking of a filament of complex fluid or soft solid subject to uniaxial tensile stretching, under conditions of constant imposed stress and force, by means of linear stability analysis and nonlinear simulations. We demonstrate…

Dynamic particle-scale numerical simulations are used to show that the shear thickening observed in dense colloidal, or Brownian, suspensions is of a similar nature to that observed in non-colloidal suspensions, i.e., a stress-induced…

When injected through a contraction, high molecular weight polymer solutions exhibit a sharp increase of apparent viscosity which originates from stretching polymer chains above a critical extension rate. This chain stretching can also…

Understanding the fracture mechanics of soft solids remains a fundamental challenge due to their complex, nonlinear responses under large deformations. While multiaxial loading is key to probing their mechanical behavior, the role of such…

Most of the research concerting crack propagation in discrete media is concerned with specific types of external loading: displacements on the boundaries, or constant energy fluxes or feeding waves originating from infinity. In this paper…

Under an applied traction, highly concentrated suspensions of solid particles in fluids can turn from a state in which they flow to a state in which they counteract the traction as an elastic solid: a shear-jammed state. Remarkably, the…