cells

Abstract: Brittle materials propagate opening cracks under tension. When stress increases beyond a critical magnitude, then quasistatic crack propagation becomes unstable. In the presence of several precracks, a brittle material always propagates only the weakest crack, leading to catastrophic failure. Here, we show that all these features of brittle fracture are fundamentally modified when the material susceptible to cracking is bonded to a hydrogel, a common situation in biological tissues.

The paramount role of mechanics in life has recently been the center of attention of many researchers. This special issue will be focusing on the role of mechanics in the life of cells and tissues and their interactions with biomaterials. Original research and review papers are solicited for review and publication in the journal Mechanical Sciences . Mechanical Sciences is an academic open-access journal sponsored by the Library of Delft University of Technology and The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

 Call for Abstracts (Deadline: November 30, 2011)

 As a part of WCCM 2012 (10th World Congress on Computational Mechanics)

 Submit Your Abstract (Choose mini-symposium MS-149)