Mechanics of soft materials and structures present many interesting aspects from both the point of view of the modeling and the applications. One aspect which will be stressed in the course is related to the large changes in shape which can be expected due to a class of the external stimuli which include mechano-chemical actions.
Changes in shape can be smooth or not, with respect to some key control parameter, which depends on the specific problem; when they occur instantaneously, an instability process has taken place.
The aim of the short course is to deal with a few problems characterized by instability patterns in soft structures. The course will include: introduction to fundamentals of continuum mechanics, analysis of stress-diffusion problems, introduction of some prototypes of stability loss, analysis of elastic instabilities in soft polymer-based structures driven by chemical and/or mechanical control.
October 25, 26, 27, and 28, 2022 - 12:00pm-1:00pm, 2:00pm-4:00pm