Elastic solids under frictionless rigid contact and configurational force

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Corso, Francesco Dal, Amato, Marco, Bigoni, Davide
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Corso, Francesco Dal
Amato, Marco
Bigoni, Davide
author_facet Corso, Francesco Dal
Amato, Marco
Bigoni, Davide
contents A homogeneous elastic solid, bounded by a flat surface in its unstressed configuration, undergoes a finite strain when in frictionless contact against a rigid and rectilinear constraint, ending with a rounded or sharp corner, in a two-dimensional formulation. With a strong analogy to fracture mechanics, it is shown that (i.) a path-independent $J$--integral can be defined for frictionless contact problems, (ii.) which is equal to the energy release rate $G$ associated with an infinitesimal growth in the size of the frictionless constraint, and thus gives the value of the configurational force component along the sliding direction. Furthermore, it is found that (iii.) such a configurational sliding force is the Newtonian force component exerted by the elastic solid on the constraint at the frictionless contact. Assuming the kinematics of an Euler-Bernoulli rod for an elastic body of rectangular shape, the results (i.)--(iii.) lead to a new interpretation from a nonlinear solid mechanics perspective of the configurational forces recently disclosed for one-dimensional structures of variable length. Finally, approximate but closed-form solutions (validated with finite element simulations) are exploited to provide further insight into the effect of configurational forces. In particular, two applications are presented which show that a transverse compression can lead to Eulerian buckling or to longitudinal dynamic motion, both realizing novel examples of soft actuation mechanisms. As an application to biology, our results may provide a mechanical explanation for the observed phenomenon of negative durotaxis, where cells migrate from stiffer to softer environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_12129
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Elastic solids under frictionless rigid contact and configurational force
Corso, Francesco Dal
Amato, Marco
Bigoni, Davide
Soft Condensed Matter
A homogeneous elastic solid, bounded by a flat surface in its unstressed configuration, undergoes a finite strain when in frictionless contact against a rigid and rectilinear constraint, ending with a rounded or sharp corner, in a two-dimensional formulation. With a strong analogy to fracture mechanics, it is shown that (i.) a path-independent $J$--integral can be defined for frictionless contact problems, (ii.) which is equal to the energy release rate $G$ associated with an infinitesimal growth in the size of the frictionless constraint, and thus gives the value of the configurational force component along the sliding direction. Furthermore, it is found that (iii.) such a configurational sliding force is the Newtonian force component exerted by the elastic solid on the constraint at the frictionless contact. Assuming the kinematics of an Euler-Bernoulli rod for an elastic body of rectangular shape, the results (i.)--(iii.) lead to a new interpretation from a nonlinear solid mechanics perspective of the configurational forces recently disclosed for one-dimensional structures of variable length. Finally, approximate but closed-form solutions (validated with finite element simulations) are exploited to provide further insight into the effect of configurational forces. In particular, two applications are presented which show that a transverse compression can lead to Eulerian buckling or to longitudinal dynamic motion, both realizing novel examples of soft actuation mechanisms. As an application to biology, our results may provide a mechanical explanation for the observed phenomenon of negative durotaxis, where cells migrate from stiffer to softer environments.
title Elastic solids under frictionless rigid contact and configurational force
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.12129