Elasticity and stability of shape-shifting structures

As we enter the age of designer matter — where objects can morph and change shape on command — what tools do we need to create shape-shifting structures? At the heart of an elastic deformation is the combination of dilation and distortion or stretching and bending. The competition between the latter can cause elastic instabilities, and over the last fifteen years, these instabilities have provided a multitude of ways to prescribe and control shape change. Buckling, wrinkling, folding, creasing, and snapping have become mechanisms that when harmoniously combined enable mechanical metamaterials, self-folding origami, ultralight and ultrathin kirigami, and structures that appear to grow from one shape to another. In this review, I aim to connect the fundamentals of elastic instabilities to the advanced functionality currently found within mechanical metamaterials.     

Stabilized Nonconforming Mixed Finite Element Method for Linear Elasticity on Rectangular or Cubic Meshes

Based on the primal mixed variational formulation, a stabilized nonconforming mixed finite element method is proposed for the linear elasticity on rectangular and cubic meshes. Two kinds of penalty terms are introduced in the stabilized mixed formulation, which are the jump penalty term for the displacement and the divergence penalty term for the stress. We use the classical nonconforming rectangular and cubic elements for the displacement and the discontinuous piecewise polynomial space for the stress, where the discrete space for stress are carefully chosen to guarantee the well-posedness of discrete formulation. The stabilized mixed method is locking-free. The optimal convergence order is derived in the $L^2$-norm for stress and in the broken $H^1$-norm and $L^2$-norm for displacement. A numerical test is carried out to verify the optimal convergence of the stabilized method.     

Identifying bacterial fragments on morphologically similar substrate using UAFM

The ultrasonic atomic force microscopy (UAFM) can be used effectively to map the elasticity of a surface. Using this technique we have demonstrated that biological fragments on a substrate can be easily identified which is otherwise difficult using only an AFM image. We have shown that AFM image can falsely interpret the surface morphological features on the substrate. We have taken the bacteria Pseudomonas sp. as a case study to demonstrate that UAFM technique is a powerful tool to study biological samples and differentiate morphological features on the substrate.     

Dual mixed finite element methods for the elasticity problem with Lagrange multipliers

We study a dual mixed formulation of the elasticity system in a polygonal domain of the plane with mixed boundary conditions and its numerical approximation. The (essential) Neumann boundary conditions (or traction boundary condition) are imposed using a discontinuous Lagrange multiplier corresponding to the trace of the displacement field. Moreover, a strain tensor is introduced as a new unknown and its symmetry is relaxed, also by the use of a Lagrange multiplier (the rotation). The singular behaviour of the solution requires us to use refined meshes to restore optimal rates of convergence. Uniform error estimates in the Lamé coefficient λ$\lambda$ are obtained for large λ$\lambda$. The hybridization of the problem is performed and numerical tests are presented confirming our theoretical results.     

环形线负载驱动变曲率反射镜技术

从薄板弹性理论出发,对可实现曲率变化的环形线负载驱动模型进行分析,给出了基于该模型的大镜厚比变曲率反射镜的形变方程.以较小的驱动力实现较大的中心形变为目标,利用MATLAB软件对不同反射镜厚度、驱动环半径下的反射镜形变情况进行模拟计算,结果表明,反射镜厚度范围在2~4 mm之间、驱动环半径数值在反射镜有效半径1/2处最佳.以此为依据,设计并研制了口径为100 mm、厚度为3 mm的铍青铜环形线负载驱动变曲率反射镜结构及原型样片,给出了变曲率反射镜整体结构前10阶的振动模态分析结果.完成装配后,反射镜原型样片的面形精度接近λ/30(λ为波长).对该结构进行极限曲率变化和面形精度保持的验证实验,通过对变曲率反射镜结构进行改进,环形线负载驱动能够实现超过30个波长(632.8 nm)的中心形变,且面形精度的变化与反射镜中心矢高的变化呈弱相关.     

Large deflections of a beam subject to three-point bending

In this paper, a solution for the equilibrium configuration of an elastic beam subject to three-point bending is given in terms of Jacobi elliptical functions. General equations are derived, and the domain of the solution is established. Several examples that illustrate a use of the solution are discussed. The obtained numerical results are compared with the results of other authors. An approximation formula by which the beam load is given as a polynomial function of beam deflection is also derived. The range of applicability of the approximation is illustrated by numerical examples.     

Active stress as a local regulator of global size in morphogenesis

While a general consensus exists that the morphogenesis of living organisms has its roots in genetically encoded information, there is a big debate about the physical mechanisms that actually mediate its control. In embryo development, cells stop proliferating at homeostasis, a target state in terms of physical conditions that can represent, for instance, the shape and size of an organ. However, while control of mitosis is local, the spatial dimension of a tissue is a global information. How do single cells get aware of that at the same time? Which is their communication mechanism? While morphogen factors are demonstrated to play a key role in morphogenesis, and in particular for shape emergence, they seem unable to produce a global control on size by themselves and, conversely, many recent experiments suggest that active mechanics plays a role. Here we focus on a paradigmatic larval structure: the imaginal disc that will become the wing of the fruit fly. By a formalization of theoretical conjectures in terms of simple mathematical models, we show that inhomogeneous stress, likely dictated by morphogenetic patterns, is an admissible mechanism to convey locally the global information of organ size.     

Effect of phase interactions on crystal stress evolution over crystal orientation space under elastoplastic deformation of two-phase polycrystalline solids

It has been known for decades that crystal stress directions move toward the vertices of the single crystal yield surface (SCYS) during plastic flow of polycrystalline solids to satisfy the deformation compatibility among crystals. The alignment of crystal stress with a SCYS vertex is affected not only by plastic anisotropy, but also by other factors such as elastic anisotropy, loading direction, and grain interactions. Among the factors contributing to the degree of alignment, the effect of phase interactions on the crystal stress evolution during plastic flow has not been extensively investigated. In this research, the effect of phase interactions on the crystal stress direction evolution is investigated using simulations of an elastoplastically deforming two-phase (Cu/Fe) polycrystalline solid calibrated to a neutron diffraction experiment. By mapping the simulated crystal stresses over the crystal orientation space, crystal-orientation-dependent nonuniform partitioning of the crystal stress between phases can be observed. An analysis of the distribution of angles between the SCYS vertex and the crystal stress based on the simulation of the two-phase material shows that the crystal stress evolution pattern during plastic flow is strongly affected by phase interactions. These interactions result in low alignment and greater dispersion angles between the crystal stresses and SCYS vertices, particularly in the strong phase.     

Enhancement of elementary beam theories in order to obtain exact solutions for elastic rectangular beams

Boley's method is utilized in order to show that the elementary Bernoulli–Euler beam theory can be enhanced such that exact solutions of the plane-stress theory of linear elasticity are obtained for force loaded rectangular beams. An equivalent enhancement is derived for the elementary Timoshenko theory of beams. The enhancement terms act analogous to thermal loadings; they follow from the force loading of the rectangular beam in an explicit form. The resulting boundary value problem of fourth order can be efficiently solved by means of symbolic computer codes. As an illustrative example, a redundant beam is studied, which is simply supported at one end, and which is clamped at the other end. Outcomes for three alternative clamped end boundary conditions are compared.     

Structural, elastic and thermal properties of the compound LaNi4.5Sn0.5

The equilibrium lattice constants, cell volumes, densities of states and electron density distributions of LaNi_4.5Sn_0.5 crystal are evaluated by the density functional theory using the plane wave pseudopotential (PW-PP) method. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, using a set of total energy versus cell volume obtained from the PW-PP method, is applied to the study of thermal and vibrational effects. We have analyzed the bulk modulus of LaNi_4.5Sn_0.5 as a function of temperature up to 1000 K. The thermodynamic properties such as thermal expansion coefficients and heat capacities are also predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. Significant differences in properties are observed at high temperatures and pressures. Moreover, the Debye temperatures are determined from the non-equilibrium Gibbs functions. The calculated results are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data, and compared favorably with other theoretical results.