Yizhe Tang

Structural characterization and viscoelastic constitutive modeling of skin

A fascinating material, skin has a tensile response which exhibits an extended toe region of minimal stress up to nominal strains that, in some species, exceed 1, followed by significant stiffening until a roughly linear region. The large toe region has been attributed to its unique structure, consisting of a network of curved collagen fibers. Investigation of the structure of rabbit skin reveals that it consists of layers of wavy fibers, each one with a characteristic orientation. Additionally, the existence of two preferred layer orientations is suggested based on the results of small angle X-ray scattering. These observations are used to construct a viscoelastic model consisting of collagen in two orientations, which leads to an in-plane anisotropic response. The structure-based model presented incorporates the elastic straightening and stretching of fibrils, their rotation towards the tensile axis, and the viscous effects which occur in the matrix of the skin due to interfibrillar and interlamellar sliding. The model is shown to effectively capture key features which dictate the mechanical response of skin. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Examination by transmission and scanning electron microscopy of rabbit dermis enabled the identification of the key elements in its structure. The organization of collagen fibrils into flat fibers was identified and incorporated into a constitutive model that reproduces the mechanical response of skin. This enhanced quantitative predictive capability can be used in the design of synthetic skin and skin-like structures.

Growth and collapse of nanovoids in tantalum monocrystals loaded at high strain rate

Shock-induced spall in ductile metals is known to occur by the sequence of nucleation, growth and coalescence of voids, even in high purity monocrystals. However, the atomistic mechanisms involved are still not completely understood. The growth and collapse of nanoscale voids in tantalum are investigated under different stress states and strain rates by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Three principal mechanisms of deformation are identified and quantitatively evaluated: shear loop emission, prismatic loop formation, and twinning. Dislocation shear loops expand as expected from a crystallographic analysis, and their extremities remain attached to the void surface in tension (if there is no dislocation reaction or cross slip), but can detach in compression and form prismatic loops due to cross slip and reactions. Prismatic loops that detach from the void are also formed by reaction of multiple shear loops sharing the same <111< slip direction during hydrostatic loading. Nanotwins form preferably upon b...