Active elastocapillarity in soft solids with negative surface tension.

ABSTRACT: Active solids consume energy to allow for actuation, shape change, and wave propagation not possible in equilibrium. Whereas active interfaces have been realized across many experimental systems, control of three-dimensional (3D) bulk materials remains a challenge. Here, we develop continuum theory and microscopic simulations that describe a 3D soft solid whose boundary experiences active surface stresses. The competition between active boundary and elastic bulk yields a broad range of previously unexplored phenomena, which are demonstrations of so-called active elastocapillarity. In contrast to thin shells and vesicles, we discover that bulk 3D elasticity controls snap-through transitions between different anisotropic shapes. These transitions meet at a critical point, allowing a universa

SUBMITTER: Binysh J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8916726 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature