Related papers: Toy models for the falling chimney
We have carried out dilatant plasticity simulations to investigate the process of failure inside a shear band. The constitutive model accounts for possibly inhomogeneous flow within the band, void rotation and void elongation. We found that…
We develop a theoretical description of the topological disentanglement occurring when torus knots reach the ends of a semi-flexible polymer under tension. These include decays into simpler knots and total unknotting. The minimal number of…
The "Fluid Mechanic Sewing Machine" creates periodic patterns through the coiling nature of a viscous fluid falling onto a moving surface. At relatively moderate heights, the reported patterns are translating coiling, alternating loops, W…
Nanotubes behave as semi-flexible polymers in that they can bend by a sizeable amount. When integrating a nanotube in a mechanical resonator, the bending is expected to break the symmetry of the restoring potential. Here we report on a new…
We investigate, at a laboratory scale, the collapse of cylindrical shells of radius $R$ and thickness $t$ induced by a granular discharge. We measure the critical filling height for which the structure fails upon discharge. We observe that…
We propose a continuum theory to model the Mullins effect, which is ubiquitously observed in polymer composites. In the theory, the softening of the materials during the stretching process is accounted for by considering the delamination of…
We show that the spontaneous symmetry breaking can be defined also for finite systems based on the properly defined jump probability between the ground states in the 2d and 3d Ising models on a square and a cubic lattice respectively. Our…
The breakup of glass and alumina plates due to planar impacts on one of their lateral sides is studied. Particular attention is given to investigating the spatial location of the cracks within the plates. Analysis based on a…
When a bubble of air rises to the top of a highly viscous liquid, it forms a dome-shaped protuberance on the free surface. Unlike a soap bubble, it bursts so slowly as to collapse under its own weight simultaneously, and folds into a…
For years limited Monte Carlo simulations have led to the suspicion that the time to failure of hierarchically organized load-transfer models of fracture is non-zero for sets of infinite size. This fact could have a profound significance in…
In this thesis we analyze the problem of symmetry breaking in models with extra dimensions compactified on orbifolds. In the first chapter we briefly review the main symmetry breaking mechanisms peculiar of extra dimensions such as the…
In this work, we construct an effective continuum model for architected sheets that are composed of bulky tiles connected by slender elastic joints. Due to their mesostructure, these sheets feature quasi-mechanisms -- low-energy local…
Phenomenon of foam and emulsion jamming at low shear rates is explained by considering the dynamics of thinning in the transient film, formed between the neighboring bubbles and drops. After gradually thinning down to a critical thickness,…
We discuss the relevance of methods of graph theory for the study of damage in simple model materials described by the random fuse model. While such methods are not commonly used when dealing with regular random lattices, which mimic…
We theoretically consider two-dimensional moir\'e transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers, which are strongly correlated in the sense that the on-site Coulomb interaction is comparable to or larger than the hopping kinetic energy…
Many new models of wave turbulence -- frozen, mesoscopic, laminated, decaying, sand-pile, etc. -- have been developed in the last decade aiming to solve problems seemingly not solvable in the framework of the existing wave turbulence theory…
Using large scale numerical simulations we analyze the statistical properties of fracture in the two dimensional random spring model and compare it with its scalar counterpart: the random fuse model. We first consider the process of crack…
We introduce a lattice model able to describe damage and yielding in heterogeneous materials ranging from brittle to ductile ones. Ductile fracture surfaces, obtained when the system breaks once the strain is completely localized, are shown…
A vertically hanging chain is released from rest and falls due to gravity on a scale pan. We discuss the various experimental and theoretical aspects of this classic problem. Careful time-resolved force measurements allow us to determine…
Inhomogeneities in deposition may lead to formation of rough surfaces, whose height fluctuations can be probed directly by scanning microscopy, or indirectly by scattering. Analytical or numerical treatments of simple growth models suggest…