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.
Many materials, both living and engineered, are powered from within. Scientists have thoroughly investigated how such 'active' materials operate, but so far, mostly in circumstances where the curvature of the environment ...
Soft Matter
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The strongest glasses have an Achilles' heel that causes them to fail catastrophically when pushed past their limit. They do not bend or stretch, as all damage concentrates into a single plane and the material fails in an ...
Soft Matter
Aug 16, 2026
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An international research team including Alexander Korsunsky from the Skoltech Engineering Center has, for the first time, directly measured mechanical stresses at the contact between a diamond indenter and a complex nanostructured ...
Nanophysics
Aug 13, 2026
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Rice University researchers have shown that tiny wrinkles in graphene can change the material's electrical properties, providing evidence for flexoelectricity, a phenomenon in which a material generates an electric charge ...
Nanophysics
Aug 12, 2026
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A group of Cornell College students and their professor found surprising results in research on antimicrobial peptides, which are being studied as a method of combating antibiotic resistance. These peptides, part of the innate ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 5, 2026
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U.K. and U.S. scientists have uncovered an important piece of the puzzle in the signaling pathway that causes damaging scar tissue to build up in the body, raising hopes for future treatments. A team from the University of ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 5, 2026
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Mechanical strain is one of the most common tools used to tailor the properties of materials. In piezoelectric materials, stretching or compressing a crystal generates an electrical polarization. In piezomagnetic materials, ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 29, 2026
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Scientists have discovered a previously unknown law of geometry that explains why some growing surfaces, whether in nature or in engineered materials, suddenly stop being able to stay smooth and instead form dimples and folds. ...
General Physics
Jul 29, 2026
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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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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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