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A computational study of flexoelectricity

Submitted by Amir Abdollahi on

Flexoelectricity is a size-dependent electromechanical mechanism coupling polarization and strain gradient. It exists in a wide variety of materials, and is most noticeable for nanoscale objects, where strain gradients are higher. Simulations are important to understand flexoelectricity because experiments at very small scales are difficult, and analytical solutions are scarce. Here, we computationally evaluate the role of flexoelectricity in the electromechanical response of linear dielectric solids in two-dimensions.

VUMAT Subroutines for multi-phase material behavior.

Submitted by simumano on

Hi everyone. I would like to know how to get started with a VUMAT subroutine for multiphases for example a subroutine for pore water and sand. It could be helpful when anyone could share VUMAT subroutines for learning such complex programmings. Could be appreciated when some one teaches with equations. thank you.

Extremely Curved Cracks

Submitted by Ettore Barbieri on

 

The word "extreme" seems to be "trending" a lot these days, see the recent discussions on the new journal Extreme Mechanics Letters.

My collaborator Ruben Sevilla at Swansea and I were interested in very curved crack paths that develop in nature and have been replicated experimentally in thin films attached to elastic substrates.

Journal Club Theme of September 2014: Numerical modeling of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling processes in porous media

Submitted by WaiChing Sun on

Thermo-hydro-mechanics (THM) is a branch of mechanics aimed to predict how deformable porous media behave, while heat transfer and fluid transport simultaneously occur in the pores filled by liquid and/or gas. Understanding these multi-physical responses is important for a wide spectrum of modern engineering applications, such as tissue scaffolding, geothermal heating, mineral exploration and mining, hydraulic fracture, energy piles, tunneling with frozen soil and nuclear waste storage and management.