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Unit

Flexible Structures Laboratory

Laboratory

Related publications (18)

Instabilities in Elastic and Magneto-Elastic Beams and Shells: from Shell Buckling to the Design of a Programmable Braille Reader

Arefeh Abbasi

In this thesis, we conduct a comprehensive investigation into structural instabilities of both elastic and magneto-elastic beams and shells, resulting in a creative proposal to design a programmable braille reader. Methodologically, we combine numerical si ...

EPFL2024

Short-term behavior of glass fiber-polymer composite bending-active elastica beam under service load application

Thomas Keller, Landolf-Giosef-Anastasios Rhode-Barbarigos, Tara Habibi

Bending-active elastica beam is a structural configuration that is based on the elastic deformation of an initially straight beam. This deformation occurs when horizontal displacements are applied to a sliding support, causing the beam to bend into an arch ...

2024

Mechanics of Physical Knots: From Filaments in Contact to Surgical Suturing

Paul Johanns

In this thesis, we study the mechanics of tight physical knots. Knots are omnipresent in surgery, climbing, and sailing, with disastrous consequences when the filament or the rope fails to perform its function. Even if the importance of mechanical analysis ...

EPFL2023

Soft functional fibers for mechanical sensing and actuation

Andreas Leber

The measurement and generation of mechanical deformations is a key functionality in health monitoring, human-machine interaction, and soft robotics. However, current methods typically rely on small and hard transducers, which result in poor performance, cu ...

EPFL2021

Instability of a thin viscous film flowing under an inclined substrate: steady patterns

François Gallaire, Gioele Mariano Nicolò Balestra, Pier Giuseppe Ledda, Gaëtan Pierre Clément Lerisson

The flow of a thin film coating the underside of an inclined substrate is studied. We measure experimentally spatial growth rates and compare them to the linear stability analysis of a flat film modelled by the lubrication equation. When forced by a statio ...

Cambridge University Press2020

Out-of-plane instability of thin reinforced concrete walls under seismic loading

Angelica Rosso

Out of plane instability of reinforced concrete walls is a failure mechanism observed rather recently following the earthquakes in Chile (2010) and New Zealand (2011). Global out of plane instability is a phenomenon that may occur in thin walls, subjected ...

EPFL2018

Numerical Modelling of Two-Phase Flow with Moving Boundary Fitted Meshes

Erik Gros

In this thesis, a computational approach is used to study two-phase flow including phase change by direct numerical simulation. This approach follows the interface with an adaptive moving mesh. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved, in tw ...

EPFL2018

Patterns of Carbon Nanotubes by Flow-Directed Deposition on Substrates with Architectured Topographies

Pedro Miguel Nunes Pereira de Almeida Reis

We develop and perform continuum mechanics simulations of carbon nanotube (CNT) deployment directed by a combination of surface topography and rarefied gas flow. We employ the discrete elastic rods method to model the deposition of CNT as a slender elastic ...

American Chemical Society (ACS)2018

Numerical simulation of mechanical deformation of semi-solid material using a level-set based finite element method

Roland Logé

In this work, a level-set based finite element method was used to numerically evaluate the mechanical behavior in a small deformation range of semi-solid materials with different microstructure configurations. For this purpose, a finite element model of th ...

Institute of Physics2017

Axially equilibrated displacement-based beam element for simulating the cyclic inelastic behaviour of RC members

Katrin Beyer, João Saraiva Esteves Pacheco de Almeida, Danilo Tarquini

Distributed plasticity beam elements are commonly used to evaluate limit state demands for performance based analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Strain limits are often preferred to drift limits since they directly relate to damage and are the ...

2017

Temperature effects on material properties and structural response of polymer matrix composites

Wei Sun

Structural components used in civil engineering applications are often subjected to compressive loads. Unlike the tensile strength of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials, their compressive strength is resin-dominated, exhibiting lower values and more ...

EPFL2015

Editorial: Failure in multiphase geomaterials

Lyesse Laloui

The contributions assembled in the present volume proceed from the lectures of the 2009 ALERT Geomaterials School devoted to the Failure in the multiphase geomaterials. The multiphase behaviour of geomaterials used to be mainly considered from the point of ...

2009

Unified formulation for Reissner-Mindlin plates: a comparison with numerical results

Luca Tassinari

Analytical solutions to problems of solids mechanics are useful to test the accuracy and the precision of the numerical approaches. Problems such as shear locking or boundary layer can be better understood with the help of analytical solutions. However, it ...

IASS Symposium 2009, Valencia, Spain2009

Structural implications of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete in bridge design

Ana Spasojevic

The present research represents a theoretical and experimental contribution to the understanding of the structural behaviour of elements made of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). UHPFRC is investigated as an advanced cementitious m ...

EPFL2008

Analyse de l'état de contrainte et de l'endommagement d'assemblages sertis en matériau mixte métal-composite sollicités en traction ou en flexion

Alain Michel Prenleloup

The constant improvement of polymer composite materials has allowed their integration in many industrial fields where their mechanical and chemical properties are apparently attractive. Mixed metal-composite insulators are now increasingly used for high vo ...

EPFL2008

Glass panel under shear loading : use of glass envelopes in building stabilization

The latest trends in contemporary architecture are fully transparent pavilions: a single storey building free of any steel or concrete frame, where glass panels are used as unique vertical structural elements to support the roof and as wind bracing to stab ...

EPFL2008

Two-phase modelling of hot tearing in aluminium alloys using a semi-coupled method

Vincent Mathier

Hot tearing is one of the most severe defects observed in castings, e.g. in billets or sheet ingots of aluminum alloys produced by DC casting. It is due to both tensile strains and a lack of interdendritic feeding in the mushy zone. In order to predict thi ...

EPFL2007

Plasticity and geophysical flows: A review

Christophe Ancey

The objective of this review is to examine how the concept of plasticity is used in geophysical fluid dynamics. Rapid mass movements such as snow avalanches or debris flows involve slurries of solid particles (ice, boulder, clay, etc.) within an interstiti ...

2007