Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids最新文献

{"title":"Polyurethane elastomer with stable mechanical performance during biodegradation: Material design and constitutive modeling","authors":"Zhuoran Yang ,&nbsp;Jiaxin Shi ,&nbsp;Yifeng Li ,&nbsp;Ziming Yan ,&nbsp;Jun Xu ,&nbsp;Zhanli Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106145","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growing demand for biodegradable elastomers necessitates innovative designs achieving controllable degradation rates while maintaining stable mechanical performance. This work presents a novel polyurethane elastomer (PUE) with dual degradation pathways, including selective degradation of soft and hard domain. This design offers enhanced control over mechanical performance, realizing only 15 % reduction in failure stretch at ∼50 % degradation and less than 2 % loss in initial modulus at ∼85 % degradation. Next, we propose a novel micro-mechanical model incorporating domain-specific degradation mechanisms to theoretically predict the degradation mechanical performance of PUE. A modified generalized series configuration captures domain interactions by linking free joint chains in soft domain with extensible hard segment clusters. Specially, degradation degree is defined as an internal variable characterizing the evolution of microscopic parameters, including Kuhn segments number, chain density, and cluster density. Thus, the macroscopic changes in modulus and failure stretch can be directly correlated to the microscopic degradation-induced chain scission, cluster breakage, and interactions like chain release and cluster detachment. The model successfully predicts the tensile behavior of PUE under selective degradation. Further theoretical analysis reveals that robust clusters play a pivotal role in maintaining mechanical stability and their continuously preserved structural integrity effectively minimizes modulus reduction caused by chain scission and cluster breakage. This work provides theoretical insights and a practical foundation for the rational design and application of biodegradable PUEs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106145"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143835028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coupling of low elastic modulus with porosity makes extreme low ice adhesion strength possible","authors":"Hongcheng Du ,&nbsp;Kun Li ,&nbsp;Jinhong Yang ,&nbsp;Pengfei Hao ,&nbsp;Xingshi Gu ,&nbsp;Xian Yi ,&nbsp;Zhiping Xu ,&nbsp;Cunjing Lv","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106147","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anti-icing surfaces are vital for transportation and infrastructure. Low adhesion strength enables energy-efficient wind-driven or vibration-based ice-removal techniques beyond heating. A key challenge is to reduce the tangential adhesion strength of ice below 10 kPa, a goal hindered in practice by the high toughness of the ice-substrate interface. Even superhydrophobic materials with low surface energy struggle. Recent studies leverage low elastic moduli, lubricated surfaces, and minimal ice contact of porous substrates to reduce the adhesion strength. However, the rationale behind such an approach remains unclear, with no theories available for design purposes. In this study, we address this gap by establishing a solid mechanics framework based on fracture mechanics to model ice adhesion and inform anti-icing surface design. Here, we present an ice-solid interface fracture theory based on the Biot theory and a neo-Hookean framework, which accounts for substrate deformation and energy balance during ice debonding. Guided by this model, we optimized material properties of the substrate, including the porosity and pore size. Increasing porosity reduces the contact area and elastic modulus, while an optimized pore size prevents ice ingress and promotes interfacial cracking, lowering the interface toughness and energy cost of ice removal. The model prediction revises conventional scaling relations between the adhesion strength and the substrate modulus by modifying the exponent from 1/2 to 1, allowing the strength to reach even 0.1 kPa in theory. A durable, weather-resistant substrate with a tangential adhesion strength of 3 kPa is demonstrated in experiments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106147"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143835029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A nonlinear toroidal shell model for surface morphologies and morphogenesis","authors":"Ting Wang ,&nbsp;Michel Potier-Ferry ,&nbsp;Fan Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106135","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106135","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biological tissues with core–shell structures usually exhibit non-uniform curvatures such as toroidal geometry presenting interesting features containing positive, zero, and negative Gaussian curvatures within one system, which give rise to intriguing instability patterns distinct from those observed on uniformly curved surfaces. Such varying curvatures would dramatically affect the growing morphogenesis. To understand the underlying morphoelastic mechanism and to quantitatively predict morphological instability patterns, we develop a nonlinear toroidal core–shell model and incorporate advanced numerical techniques for pattern prediction. Analytical solutions indicate that regions with positive Gaussian curvature (outer ring) require higher critical buckling stresses than those with negative Gaussian curvature (inner ring), with the critical threshold positively correlated to the key dimensionless parameters that are composed of curvature and stiffness of the system. Using the <em>Asymptotic Numerical Method</em> (ANM) as a robust path-following continuation approach, we continuously trace the post-buckling evolution and the associated wrinkling topography. We reveal that for donut-like toroidal core–shell structures, stripes initially form in the inner region with negative Gaussian curvature, and then evolve into a non-uniform hexagonal pattern in the post-buckling stage, while localized dimples may appear in core–shell tori with low stiffness. For cherry-like core–shell tori, the outer region with positive Gaussian curvature usually exhibits axisymmetric stripes or hexagonal patterns. A phase diagram on wrinkling topography at the critical buckling threshold is provided, in line with analytical predictions, offering fundamental insights into the complex interplay between curvature and material stiffness on multi-phase pattern selection in core–shell structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106135"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On a holistic variational formulation for material modeling including dissipative evolution","authors":"Philipp Junker ,&nbsp;Tobias Bode ,&nbsp;Klaus Hackl","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on Hamilton’s principle of stationary action, we present a holistic variational formulation for material modeling including dissipative evolution. To this end, we recall the definition of the action as path integral of the momentum vector. Reformulation of the action and inserting the 1<span><math><mi>st</mi></math></span> and 2<span><math><mi>nd</mi></math></span> Law of Thermodynamics yield an extended Hamilton functional. We show that the stationarity conditions yield well-known expressions as well as new conditions in an extended nested time domain. Introducing an asymptotic two-scale approach transforms the expressions in the nested time domain back to the physical time. Hereby, we receive usual differential equations, e.g., heat conductivity equation, diffusion equation, and Biot equation, and the constitutive laws for, e.g., temperature, entropy, and chemical potential, all from one holistic stationarity principle. Moreover, the formulation in the nested time domain produces additional, virtual conditions that naturally lead to the concept of dissipation distances. Due to its variational origin, our approach yields in a consistent manner a coupled space–time formulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106133"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143839097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A variational theory for soft shells","authors":"André M. Sonnet ,&nbsp;Epifanio G. Virga","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Three general modes are distinguished in the deformation of a thin shell; these are <em>stretching</em>, <em>drilling</em>, and <em>bending</em>. Of these, the drilling mode is the one more likely to emerge in a <em>soft matter</em> shell (as compared to a hard, structural one), as it is ignited by a swerve of material fibers about the local normal. We propose a hyperelastic theory for soft shells, based on a separation criterion that envisages the strain-energy density as the sum of three independent pure measures of stretching, drilling, and bending. Each individual measure is prescribed to vanish on all other companion modes. The result is a direct, second-grade theory featuring a bending energy <em>quartic</em> in an invariant strain descriptor that stems from the polar rotation hidden in the deformation gradient (although quadratic energies are also appropriate in special cases). The proposed energy functional has a multi-well character, which fosters cases of <em>soft elasticity</em> (with a continuum of ground states) related to minimal surfaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106132"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The multiscale mechanics of axon durotaxis","authors":"Christoforos Kassianides ,&nbsp;Alain Goriely ,&nbsp;Hadrien Oliveri","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During neurodevelopment, neuronal axons navigate through the extracellular environment, guided by various cues to establish connections with distant target cells. Among other factors, axon trajectories are influenced by heterogeneities in environmental stiffness, a process known as <em>durotaxis</em>, the guidance by substrate stiffness gradients. Here, we develop a three-scale model for axonal durotaxis. At the molecular scale, we characterise the mechanical interaction between the axonal growth cone cytoskeleton, based on molecular-clutch-type interactions dependent on substrate stiffness. At the growth cone scale, we spatially integrate this relationship to obtain a model for the traction generated by the entire growth cone. Finally, at the cell scale, we model the axon as a morphoelastic filament growing on an adhesive substrate, and subject to durotactic growth cone traction. Firstly, the model predicts that, depending on the local substrate stiffness, axons may exhibit positive or negative durotaxis, and we show that this key property entails the existence of attractive zones of preferential stiffness in the substrate domain. Second, we show that axons will exhibit reflective and refractive behaviour across interface between regions of different stiffness, a basic process which may serve in the deflection of axons. Lastly, we test our model in a biological scenario wherein durotaxis was previously identified as a possible guidance mechanism <em>in vivo</em>. Overall, this work provides a general mechanistic theory for exploring complex effects in axonal mechanotaxis and guidance in general.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106134"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143792776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tunable entanglement and strength with engineered staple-like particles: Experiments and discrete element models","authors":"Saeed Pezeshki ,&nbsp;Youhan Sohn ,&nbsp;Vivien Fouquet ,&nbsp;Francois Barthelat","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Entangled matter displays unusual and attractive properties and mechanisms: tensile strength, capabilities for assembly and disassembly, damage tolerance. While some of the attributes and mechanisms share some traits with traditional granular materials, fewer studies have focused on entanglement and strength and there are large gaps in our understanding of the mechanics of these materials. In this report we focus on the tensile properties and mechanics of bundles made of staple-like particles, and particularly on the effect of adjusting the angle between the legs and the crown in individual staples. Our experiments, combined with discrete element models, show competing mechanisms between entanglement strength and geometric engagement between particles, giving rise to an optimum crown-leg angle that maximizes strength. We also show that tensile forces are transmitted by a small fraction of the staples, which is organized in only 1–3 force chains. The formation and breakage of these chains is highly dynamic: as force chains break, they are replaced by fresh ones which were previously mechanically invisible. Entangled matter offers interesting perspectives in terms of materials design which can lead to unusual combination of properties: simultaneous strength and toughness, controlled assembly and disassembly, re-conformability, recyclability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106127"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143748276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The nonlinear elastic deformation of liquid inclusions embedded in elastomers","authors":"Oluwadara Moronkeji ,&nbsp;Fabio Sozio ,&nbsp;Kamalendu Ghosh ,&nbsp;Amira Meddeb ,&nbsp;Amirhossein Farahani ,&nbsp;Zoubeida Ounaies ,&nbsp;Ioannis Chasiotis ,&nbsp;Oscar Lopez-Pamies","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Elastomers filled with liquid inclusions — as opposed to conventional solid fillers — are a recent trend in the soft matter community because of their unique range of mechanical and physical properties. Such properties stem, in part, from the very large deformations that the underlying liquid inclusions are capable of undergoing. With the objective of advancing the understanding of the mechanics of this emerging class of materials, this paper presents a combined experimental/theoretical study of the nonlinear elastic deformation of initially spherical liquid inclusions embedded in elastomers that are subjected to quasistatic mechanical loads. The focus is on two fundamental problems, both within the limit regime when elasto-capillarity effects are negligible: (<span><math><mi>i</mi></math></span>) the problem of an isolated inclusion and (<span><math><mrow><mi>i</mi><mi>i</mi></mrow></math></span>) that of a pair of closely interacting inclusions. Experimentally, specimens made of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer filled with either isolated or pairs of initially spherical liquid glycerol inclusions are subjected to uniaxial tension. For the specimens with pairs of inclusions, three orientations of the two inclusions with respect to the direction of the applied macroscopic tensile load are considered, 0°, 45°, and 90°. The liquid glycerol is stained with a fluorescent dye that permits to measure the local deformation of the inclusions <em>in situ</em> via confocal laser scanning fluorescent microscopy. Theoretically, a recently developed framework — wherein the elastomer is considered to be a nonlinear elastic solid, the liquid comprising the inclusions is considered to be a nonlinear elastic fluid, and the interfaces separating the elastomer from the liquid inclusions can feature their own nonlinear elastic behavior (e.g., surface tension) — is utilized to carry out full-field simulations of the experiments. <em>Inter alia</em>, the results show that the deformation of liquid inclusions is significantly non-uniform and strongly influenced by the presence of other liquid inclusions around them. Interestingly, they also show that the large compressive stretches that localize at the poles of the inclusions may result in the development of creases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106126"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Isotropic metamaterial stiffness beyond Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound","authors":"Manish Kumar Singh ,&nbsp;Chang Quan Lai","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106130","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since its introduction more than 60 years ago, the Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound has stood as the theoretical limit for the stiffness of isotropic composites and porous solids, acting as an important reference against which the moduli of heterogeneous structural materials are assessed. Here, we show through first-principles calculations, supported by finite element simulations, that the Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound can be exceeded by the <em>isotropic</em> elastic response of an anisotropic structure constructed from an anisotropic material. The material and structural anisotropies mutually reinforce each other to realize the overall isotropic response, without incurring the mass penalty faced by the hybridization of geometries with complementary anisotropies. 3 designs were investigated (plate BCC, plate FCC and plate SC) but only plate SC yielded a solution for the anisotropic properties of the material, which are remarkably similar to that of single crystal nickel and single crystal ferrite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106130"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Computational design of additively manufacturable, cost-effective, high-strength aluminum alloys exploiting rapid solidification","authors":"Benjamin Glaser ,&nbsp;A. John Hart ,&nbsp;S. Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi","doi":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aluminum (Al) alloys are widely used in aerospace and automotive industries as a result of their high strength-to-density ratio and cost-effectiveness, with their use at room temperature in housings and brackets. Although additive manufacturing (AM) facilitates the manufacturing of high-temperature aluminum alloys (200-400°C) to enable their potential use in intake fans and engine pistons, few alloying systems can sufficiently inhibit dislocation motions to achieve high strength, and their dislocation blockage features can hardly be retained at elevated temperatures. The high-demand service also requires reducing the material cost and CO₂ emissions (net cost) without sacrificing mechanical performance. The two main blockage features for Al alloys are: the introduction of pinning sites that disrupt dislocation motions, generating tortuous paths; and interfaces that cause dislocation pileups and prevent plastic deformation. The mechanical design of the microstructure promotes an increase in the percentage of volume and a reduction in the length scale of these features to achieve higher strength. Here, we show that we can exploit rapid solidification in laser-based AM to introduce new pathways to achieve the mechanical design via precipitation of metastable phases that form at high fractions and with sub-micron length scale. Furthermore, with thermal aging, these phases transform into exceptional volumes of nanometer-scale pinning sites that are stable at high temperatures. We performed high-throughput calculated phase diagram (CALPHAD)-based integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) simulations along with inverse design using Bayesian optimization. We propose Al-Ni-Er-Zr-Y as a class of Al alloy that the cost/strength trade-off can be tailored by Er/Y ratio. Our high-temperature design has 95% strength of a benchmark printable Al alloy with 15% anticipated net cost savings. For room temperature use, by substituting Er with Y, in the first design, metastable phases can be exploited to achieve 3<span><math><mo>×</mo></math></span> room-temperature strengthening of the benchmark design with a 60% net cost reduction. The second design matches the strength of the benchmark alloy with 80% net cost savings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17331,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 106120"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}