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Related Experiment Videos

Failure of viral shells.

William S Klug1, Robijn F Bruinsma, Jean-Philippe Michel

  • 1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|December 13, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Viral shells fail under mechanical stress when the Föppl-von Kármán (FvK) number exceeds a critical value. This study confirms this prediction using nanoindentation experiments and theoretical analysis.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Materials Science
  • Structural Mechanics

Background:

  • Viral shells are complex biological structures with mechanical properties.
  • Understanding viral shell mechanics is crucial for virology and drug development.
  • Mechanical stress can lead to the structural failure of these shells.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the structural failure of viral shells under mechanical stress.
  • To determine the critical parameters governing viral shell failure.
  • To correlate theoretical predictions with experimental observations of shell failure.

Main Methods:

  • Combined theoretical and experimental approach.
  • Development of a theoretical model based on the Föppl-von Kármán (FvK) number.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Nanoindentation experiments on viral shells.
  • Investigation of soft-mode instability influenced by pH changes.

    • Main Results:

    • Identified a critical Föppl-von Kármán (FvK) number for viral shell failure.
    • Observed discontinuities in force-indentation curves at critical FvK numbers.
    • Experimental results confirmed the theoretical prediction of failure onset.
    • Demonstrated pH-dependent soft-mode instability affecting shell stiffness and failure.

    Conclusions:

    • The Föppl-von Kármán (FvK) number is a key predictor of viral shell mechanical failure.
    • Nanoindentation is a suitable technique for studying viral shell mechanics.
    • Environmental factors like pH can significantly influence viral shell stability and failure mechanisms.