Mechanics of Networked and Biological Materials

……….where worlds collide: fluids & solids, soft & hard, tough & brittle, vivo and vitro!Keywords: Damage, fracture, rate dependence, toughness, topology, poroelasticity, quasi-continuum methods, network theory.

The  long term objective of this research is to develop a rigorous understanding for the effect of micro-structure and local topology on deformation and failure of networked materials. Specific systems of interest include polymer networks as arising in hydrogels and soft tissues and trabecular networks in human bone. Current efforts focus on multi-scale constitutive modeling and fracture in soft materials including rate dependence, damage evolution, poro-mechanical effects and structure-function relations as well as the development of quasi-continuum models for domain decomposition in fractured lattice-like materials.

Team members: Ahmed Ghareeb (Alumnus), Konik Kothari (Alumnus), Darin Peetz (Alumnus), Wenyi Wang (Alumnus) and Ahmed Elbanna.

  • Ghareeb, A., and Elbanna, A.(2021). Modeling fracture in rate-dependent polymer networks: A quasi-continuum approach (Journal of Applied Mechanics) pdf
  • Peetz, D., & Elbanna, A. (2020), On the use of Multigrid Preconditioners for Topology Optimization. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization.
  • Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2020). An Adaptive Quasi-Continuum Approach for Modeling Fracture in Networked Materials: Application to Modeling of Polymer Networks. (JMPS) link pdf
  • Nguyen C., Peetz D., Elbanna, A., and Jean M. Carlson (2019). Characterization of fracture in topology-optimized bioinspired networks. Physical Review E (accepted) link,
  • Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2019). Adhesion Asymmetry in Peeling of Thin Films with Homogeneous Material Properties: A Geometry-Inspired Design Paradigm. Journal of Applied Mechanics. 86(7), 071005. link pdf
  • Mondal, A., Nguyen, C. Ma, X, Elbanna, A. & Carlson, J. (2019). Network models for characterization of trabecular bone. Phys. Rev. E 99(4), 042406. pdf
  • Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2019). Extreme enhancement of interfacial adhesion by bulk patterning of sacrificial cuts. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 28, 22-30. link pdf
  • Ghareeb A., & Elbanna A. E. (2018), On the role of the plaque porous structure on Mussel adhesion: Implications for adhesion control using bulk patterning. Journal of Applied Mechanics (link).
  • Kothari K., Hu, Y., Gupta, S., and Elbanna A. E. (2017), Mechanical response of 2D polymer networks: role of topology, rate dependence, and damage accumulation. Journal of Applied Mechanics link.
  • Wang, W., & Elbanna, A. (2014). Crack propagation in bone on the scale of mineralized collagen fibrils: role of polymers with sacrificial bonds and hidden length. Bone, 68, 20-31 [11 pages].link
  • Elbanna AE, and Carlson JM (2013) Dynamics of Polymer Molecules with Sacrificial Bond and Hidden Length Systems: Towards a Physically-Based Mesoscopic Constitutive Law. PLoS ONE 8(4): e56118. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056118 [10 pages].
  • Lieou CKC, Elbanna AE, and Carlson JM (2013) Sacrificial bonds and hidden length in biomaterials — a kinetic, constitutive description of strength and toughness in bone, Phys.  Rev. E 88, 012703 [10 pages]. link.