Mechanics of Soft Materials

We are interested in constitutive equation models of soft materials. Related phenomena studied at different scales are elasticity, hyperelasticity, viscoelasticity, plasticity, and viscoelastoplasticity. An important aspect of soft solids is their ultimate failure properties: yield and fracture. We are interested in the phenomena of damage, rupture, tear, and delamination of two-dimensional systems, i.e. thin films, and coatings. We also study the bending and buckling phenomena of thin shells.