Abstract: Guided by the experimental observations in the literature, this paper discusses two possible modes of defect growth in soft solids for which the size-dependent fracture mechanics is not always applicable. One is omni-directional ...

Abstract: In the previous studies by the authors and others, it was demonstrated that there are two possible defect growth modes and a characteristic material length for any soft material. For a pre-existing defect smaller than the ...

Abstract: Various applications of dielectric elastomers (DEs) have been realized in recent years due to their lightweight, low cost, large actuation and fast response. In this paper, experiments and simulations are performed on the ...

Abstract: A soft adhesive layer bonded between two rigid substrates, which are being pulled apart, may exhibit diverse instability phenomena before failure, such as cavitation, fingering, and fringe instability. In this study, by ...

Abstract: A soft adhesive layer bonded between two rigid substrates, which are being pulled apart, may exhibit diverse instability phenomena before failure, such as cavitation, fingering, and fringe instability. In this study, by ...