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Similar nonlinear mechanical responses in hard and soft materials

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 278–281 (2013)Cite this article

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A comparison of the mechanical responses of (bio)polymer networks and shape-memory alloys to cyclic loading reveals strong phenomenological similarities resulting from strain-induced structural changes.

The linear mechanical response of all types of material depends critically on their structure. Of course, the relevant structural length scales and the microscopic origin of elasticity can be very different: whereas in crystalline solids the microscopic structure is determined by the atomic lattice and its defects, in polymer or composite materials the relevant length scales can be much larger and span several orders of magnitude. Yet the physics underlying a material's mechanical response is often much more complex in the nonlinear regime — that is, at larger deformations. Not only is the mechanical response determined by the microscopic structure of the material, but the applied deformation itself may also induce irreversible structural changes, which in turn will change the mechanical properties of the material. This interplay is advantageously employed in the manufacturing of materials, for example during cold working of metals (forging), where dislocations are created and arranged, or in the stretching of plastics, where polymer strands are aligned.

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Figure 1: Illustration of the ideal Mullins effect.
Figure 2: Mechanical responses to cyclic deformations for both biopolymer hydrogels and SMAs.
Figure 3: Strain-induced structural changes cause both the Mullins effect and cyclic hardening in both polymer hydrogels and SMAs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. F. Wassermann and M. J. Unterberger for helpful discussions. Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the framework of the SFB 863, and the German Excellence Initiative via the program Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) is gratefully acknowledged. K.M.S. thanks Jan Skotheim for hospitality, and acknowledges financial support from CompInt in the framework of the ENB Bayern and the International Graduate School of Science and Engineering at the Technische Universität München.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Zellbiophysik E27, Technische Universität München, Garching, 85748, Germany

    Kurt M. Schmoller & Andreas R. Bausch

  2. Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Kurt M. Schmoller

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  1. Kurt M. Schmoller
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  2. Andreas R. Bausch
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Correspondence to Kurt M. Schmoller or Andreas R. Bausch.

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Schmoller, K., Bausch, A. Similar nonlinear mechanical responses in hard and soft materials. Nature Mater 12, 278–281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3603

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