Over decades, the theoretical and applied mechanics community has developed sophisticated approaches for analysing the behaviour of complex engineering systems. Most of these approaches have targeted systems in the transportation, materials, defence and energy industries. Applying and further developing engineering approaches for understanding, predicting and modulating the response of complica...

Biomaterials in nature exhibit delicate structures that are greatly beyond the capability of the current manufacturing techniques. Duplicating these structures and applying them in engineering may help enhance the performance of traditional functional materials and structures. Inspired by gecko's hierarchical micro- and nano-fibrillar structures for adhesion, in this work we fabricated micro-pi...

This paper investigates the lateral vibration of single-layered graphene sheets based on a new theory called doublet mechanics with a length scale parameter. After a brief reviewing of doublet mechanics fundamentals, a sixth order partial differential equation that governs the lateral vibration of single-layered graphene sheets is derived. Using doublet mechanics, the relation between natural f...

: We report on two extensions of the traditional analysis of low-dimensional structures in terms of low-dimensional quantum mechanics. On one hand, we discuss the impact of thermodynamics in one or two dimensions on the behavior of fermions in low-dimensional systems. On the other hand, we use both quantum wells and interfaces with different effective electron or hole mass to study the question...

We have developed a two-dimensional (2D) non-uniform model to study the space charge limited (SCL) current injection into a trap-filled solid of nano-contact, such as organic materials and dielectrics. Assuming a solid of length D with a contact of width W, the enhancement over the well-known 1D uniform model is calculated as a function of W/D for different material properties, such as the diel...

We investigate the origin and physical effects of "dynamic structural disorder" (DSD) in supported nano-scale catalysts. DSD refers to the intrinsic fluctuating, inhomogeneous structure of such nano-scale systems. In contrast to bulk materials, nano-scale systems exhibit substantial fluctuations in structure, charge, temperature, and other quantities, as well as large surface effects. The DSD i...

In this paper, we present superhydrophobic micro/nano dual structures (MNDS). By KOH-etching of silicon, well-designed microstructures, including inverted pyramids and V-shape grooves, are first fabricated with certain geometry sizes. Nanostructures made of high-compact high-aspect-ratio nanopillars are then formed atop microstructures by an improved controllable deep reactive ion etching (DRIE...

Validity of the assumptions relating the applicability of continuum shell theories to the global mechanical behavior of carbon nanotubes is examined. The present study focuses on providing a basis that can be used to qualitatively assess the appropriateness of continuum-shell models for nanotubes. To address the effect of nanotube structure on their deformation, all nanotube geometries are divi...

This article provides a review of the computational nanomechanics, from the ab initio methods to classical molecular dynamics simulations, and multitemporal and spatial scale simulations. The recent improvements and developments are briefly discussed. Their applications in nanomechanics and nanotubes are also summarized.