Related papers: Mechanical limits of viral capsids
This study presents the formulation, the numerical solution, and the validation of a theoretical framework based on the concept of variable-order mechanics and capable of modeling dynamic fracture in brittle and quasi-brittle solids. More…
Motivated by recent experiments on the rod-like virus bacteriophage fd, confined to circular and annular domains, we present a theoretical study of structural transitions in these geometries. Using the continuum theory of nematic liquid…
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…
The forced rupture of single chemical bonds under external load is addressed. A general framework is put forward to optimally utilize the experimentally observed rupture force data for estimating the parameters of a theoretical model. As an…
Bifurcation analysis of dynamic pull-in for a lumped mass model is presented. The restoring force of the spring is derived based on the nonlinear constitutive stress-strain law and the driving force of the mass attached to the spring is…
Using numerical simulations, we characterized the behavior of an elastic membrane immersed in an active fluid. Our findings reveal a nontrivial folding and re-expansion of the membrane that is controlled by the interplay of its resistance…
When a flexible plate is peeled off a thin and soft elastic film bonded to a rigid support, uniformly spaced fingering patterns develop along their line of contact. While, the wavelength of these patterns depends only on the thickness of…
We propose an approach to measure surface elastic constants of soft solids. Generally, this requires one to probe interfacial mechanics at around the elastocapillary length scale, which is typically microscopic. Deformations of microscopic…
The packing of elastic bodies has emerged as a paradigm for the study of macroscopic disordered systems. However, progress is hampered by the lack of controlled experiments. Here we consider a model experiment for the isotropic…
We study the shapes of elastic membranes under the simultaneous exertion of tensile and compressive forces when the translational symmetry along the tension direction is broken. We predict a multitude of novel morphological phases in…
Theoretical analyses and experiments have been carried out to investigate fracture behavior of glassy polymers. Our birefringence measurements quantify the local stress buildup at cut tip during different stages of drawing. Based on…
Woven shell structures are beneficial for applications requiring lightweight, damage resilience, and design tunability, such as in wearable devices, soft robotics, and aerospace systems. A fundamental component of woven structures is the…
A growing or compressed thin elastic sheet adhered to a rigid substrate can exhibit a buckling instability, forming an inward hump. Our study shows that the strip morphology depends on the delicate balance between the compression energy and…
It is shown that a compound elastic structure, which displays a dynamic instability, may be designed as the union (or 'fusion') of two structures which are stable when separately analyzed. The compound elastic structure has two degrees of…
We develop equilibrium and kinetic theories that describe the assembly of viral capsid proteins on a charged central core, as seen in recent experiments in which brome mosaic virus (BMV) capsids assemble around nanoparticles functionalized…
The protein folding problem is stated and a list of properties that do not depend upon specific molecules is compiled and analyzed. The relationship of this analysis to future simulations is emphasized. The choice of power and time as…
Soft polymers are ubiquitous materials in nature and as engineering materials with properties varying from rate-independent to rate-dependent. Current fracture toughness measures are non-unique for rate-dependent soft materials for varying…
We investigate numerically the dynamics of crack propagation along a weak plane using a model consisting of fibers connecting a soft and a hard clamp. This bottom-up model has previously been shown to contain the competition of two crack…
Physically assembled gels have promising applications in many fields because of their tunable mechanical properties. Here, we report the mechanical properties as a function of polymer volume fraction ($\phi$) for a physical gel system…
The consolidation of colloidal particles in drying colloidal dispersions is influenced by various factors such as particle size and shape, and inter-particle potential. The capillary pressure induced by the menisci, formed between the top…