we present a mathematical model describing the motion of two elastic rods in contact. The model allows for large displacements and is essentially based on Cosserat’s modelling of rods. Using a penalty technique, we prove existence of a static solution in the case of a unique rod. The contact modelling involves unilateral constraints on the central lines of the rods. Existence is also proved for...

The paper deals with the shape and/or topology optimization for an elastic body in unilateral contact with a rigid foundation. The contact phenomenon with Tresca friction between the surfaces of the elastic or rigid bodies is described by the elliptic variational inequality. This optimization problem consists in finding such topology of the domain occupied by the body and/or the shape of its bo...

One of the most challenging and basic problems in elastic rod dynamics is a description of rods in contact that prevents any unphysical self-intersections. Most previous works addressed this issue through the introduction of short-range potentials. We study the dynamics of elastic rods with perfect rolling contact which is physically relevant for rods with a rough surface. Such dynamics cannot ...

Twining plants achieve vertical growth by revolving around supports of different sizes on which they exert a pressure. This observation raises many intriguing questions that are addressed within the framework of elastic filamentary structures by modeling the stem close to the apex as a growing elastic rod. The analysis shows that vertical growth is achieved thanks to discrete contact points and...

This paper shows how range-flow can help to estimate the elastic constants of complete objects. In our framework, the object is deformed actively by a robotic device pushing into the object. The robot senses the contact force and surface displacement at the point of contact. This contact object behavior alone is not sufficient to estimate elastic constants. The displacement of the object’s non-...

In pulmonary arteries the medial smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells, though separated by an internal elastic lamina, come into contact by way of fenestrations in this lamina. Such a continuous elastic lamina is absent in pulmonary veins facilitating this contact. If vasoconstriction is induced in experimental animals, herniations of medial smooth muscle cells protruding toward endothelia...