软凝聚态物质
We investigate channel-confined, nematic liquid crystals using the Beris-Edwards model of nematohydrodynamics. Using strong homeotropic anchoring at the walls, we find multistability i.e. multiple coexisting states where the uniform nematic…
``Couette geometry'' refers to two concentric rings in 2-dimensions (or cylinders in 3-dimensions with a medium in between. Typically the inner and outer rings (or cylinders) rotate at different rates and the response of the medium is…
The diffusive behavior of small entities is strongly influenced by the flow of the surrounding medium, which is ubiquitous in natural and artificial environments. In this study, we investigate the transport characteristics of the inertial…
We combine colloidal self-assembly and soft-lithography techniques to realize flexible magnetic microcrosses that can be manipulated via external, time dependent magnetic fields. The crosses are characterized by a central domain connected…
Polymer reference interaction site model (PRISM) theory, a descendent of Ornstein-Zernike liquid state theory, is a powerful tool to predict the structure and thermodynamics of equilibrium polymer systems, but its accuracy and applicability…
The velocity jump found in the crack propagation for rubbers has been a powerful tool for developing tough rubber materials. Although it is suggested by a theory that the jump could be observed widely for viscoelastic materials, the report…
DNA and other biopolymers are being investigated as new computing substrates and alternative to silicon-based digital computers. However, the established top-down design of biomolecular interaction networks remains challenging and does not…
In recent years, significant effort has been devoted to developing smart materials whose mechanical properties can adapt under physical stimuli. Particulate colloidal gels, which behave as solids but can also flow under stress, have emerged…
An optimal sequential experimental design approach is developed to computationally characterize soft material properties at the high strain rates associated with bubble cavitation. The approach involves optimal design and model inference.…
The rapid and accurate characterization of soft, viscoelastic materials at high strain rates is of interest in biological and engineering applications. Examples include assessing the extent of tissue ablation during histotripsy procedures…
We carry out uniaxial continuous and step stretching of various crosslinked polymer networks to demonstrate how characteristics of rupture (from continuous stretching) and delayed rupture (from step stretching) can be used to probe the…
This paper extends a field-theoretical dynamical networking formalism for mesoscopic polymer dynamics to explicitly include dedicated cross-linker particles. Cross-linkers are represented within a Martin-Siggia-Rose generating functional…
In this study, we attempt to characterize the shape of three different types of grains commonly used in the iron and steel-making industry, namely pellet, sinter and iron ore lump. We choose particles over the entire size ranges used in…
In this paper, we formulate a geometric theory of the mechanics of arterial growth. An artery is modeled as a finite-length thick shell that is made of an incompressible nonlinear anisotropic solid. An initial radially-symmetric…
Dense bacterial suspensions at fluid interfaces provide a natural platform to explore active turbulence in a dimensional mismatch: active units are restricted to a two-dimensional surface, while the induced flows extend into the surrounding…
Hierarchical materials in the natural world are often made through the self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules. Achieving similar structural complexity in synthetic materials requires understanding how various molecular parameters affect…
Thin elastic sheets bend easily, leading to mechanical instabilities such as wrinkling. Here, we investigate wrinkles at edges of bi-strips, which consist of two thin sheets, one that swells and one that does not, joined side-by-side. It is…
The vertex model with homogeneous cell properties is known to exhibit a parameter degeneracy in which the system's dynamics is independent of the target area. Here, we show, for the heterogeneous vertex model where cells differ in size and…
The effects of thermal fluctuations on the morphology of two-dimensional materials are hard to harness. We propose that a geometrically constrained graphene nanoribbon (GNR) can exhibit thermally activated snap-through transitions with a…
Using molecular simulations and classical density functional theory, we study the liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a series of bent rod-like mesogens with a controlled degree of chirality introduced through a twist at the centre of the…