APS March Meeting: " Extreme Mechanics: Elasticity and Deformation "

Dear Mechanicians,

I would like to draw your attention to the Focus Session **Extreme Mechanics: Elasticity and Deformation** that will  take place at the upcoming March Meeting of the American Physical Society in Dallas, TX (March 21-25, 2011).

Each of the sessions will include an invited talk, followed by a series of contributed talks. This year's invited speakers are:

- Dominic Vella (Oxford University): "Elasto-capillarity: The role of stretching";

- Eitan Grinzpun (Columbia Unviersity): "Geometric Computation of Elastica in Contact"

- Xuanhe Zhao (Duke University): "Harnessing instabilities in polymers under electric fields"

Contributed
abstracts should include the focus topic ("12.7.4 Extreme Mechanics:
Elasticity and Deformation") as the sorting category in order to ensure
allocation to the correct session. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is Friday, November 19, 2010, 5:00 p.m. (EST). Abstracts may be submitted on: http://abs.aps.org/

I am enclosing below a more detailed description of this Focus
Sessions. We have seen an increasing interest in this topic (36
contributed talks last year!) and look forward to your support in
continuing it. I  encourage you to contribute a talk and pass on this
information to anyone you think might be interested. 

Look forward to seeing you in March.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Focus Session:  **Extreme Mechanics - Elasticity and Deformation**

March Meeting of the American Physical Society 

Dallas, TX , March 21-25, 2011

Sorting Category: 12.7.4

Sponsored by: GSNP (Group on Statistical & Nonlinear Physics)

12.7.4 Extreme Mechanics: Elasticity and Geometry of Thin Objects

Over
the past few years, the scientific community has taken the fields of
elasticity and solid mechanics into a new exciting direction. In
particular, the elasticity of soft materials and structures can be rich
and highly nontrivial. During the deformation process of a soft object,
large displacements can give rise to non-negligible geometric
nonlinearities. There is also a great potential for coupling the
elasticity of highly deformable objects with other phenomena such as
fluid flow, surface tension, fracture and adhesion, to name but a few. 
Moreover, elasticity offers the unique and exciting possibility to
design multifunctional materials with novel properties through the
appropriate design of the structural layout.