Mechanical deformation as a research area investigates the response of materials to applied stresses and strains, focusing on the underlying mechanical, microstructural, and thermodynamic processes that govern elastic, plastic, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic behavior. It encompasses experimental, theoretical, and computational studies of phenomena such as dislocation motion, twinning, fracture, creep, fatigue, and strain localization across length scales from atomic to macroscopic. This field supports the development of constitutive models, structure–property relationships, and advanced characterization methods, enabling prediction and optimization of mechanical performance in metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and biological or complex engineered materials under diverse loading and environmental conditions.
How do tissues cope with being stretched for hours or even days? A study led by researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has uncovered an unexpected answer: Cells radically reorganize their internal ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 27, 2026
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544
Animals and electronic devices aren't the only things with memory. Materials can retain memories of past deformations in their microscopic structure. A common example is a crease in a sheet of paper that has been folded then ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 23, 2026
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101
If a liquid is cooled slowly to its freezing point, it becomes a crystal in which the constituent particles are arranged in an ordered pattern. In contrast, when the liquid is cooled very quickly, the particles are unable ...
General Physics
Jul 8, 2026
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26
We've reported on all kinds of wacky ideas for capturing and deorbiting space debris safely. From electric tethers to lasers, engineers and scientists have been trying everything they can think of to deal with the ever-increasing ...
Space Exploration
Jul 6, 2026
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28
Viscosity is one of the most fundamental physical properties used to describe how materials flow. It governs the movement of liquids, molten rocks and even slowly deforming regions deep inside the Earth. While scientists ...
General Physics
Jul 6, 2026
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40
The shape of biological structures, ranging from flower petals to the limbs or organs of animals, is often naturally best suited for performing specific functions. Biological structures also often present curved surfaces ...
What if the mechanical properties of a cell could be programmed like the components of a machine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered that two fundamental modes of cellular deformation—stretching and bending—can ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 29, 2026
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7
Over the past decade, Professor L. Mahadevan's Soft Math Lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has helped establish how the ancient Japanese paper arts of folding or cutting ...
General Physics
Jun 24, 2026
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16
New instruments on the horizon promise the most precise tools yet to study and experiment on the smallest and most complex materials ever manufactured. In a paper published in the journal Nature Materials, University of Cincinnati ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 23, 2026
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9
Ask a child to draw some poo, and the shape will invariably be the same: a coil, broad at the base and pointy at the top, similar to a spiral swirl of soft-serve ice cream. In fact, the often-used poo emoji has this exact ...
General Physics
Jun 22, 2026
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