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Updated: Jun 20, 2025

Studying Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear Response of Soft Materials
Published on: April 25, 2019
Ductile-to-brittle transition and yielding in soft amorphous materials: perspectives and open questions
Thibaut Divoux1, Elisabeth Agoritsas2, Stefano Aime3
1ENSL, CNRS, Laboratoire de physique, F-69342 Lyon, France. Thibaut.Divoux@ens-lyon.fr.
Abstract:
Soft amorphous materials are viscoelastic solids ubiquitously found around us, from clays and cementitious pastes to emulsions and physical gels encountered in food or biomedical engineering. Under an external deformation, these materials undergo a noteworthy transition from a solid to a liquid state that reshapes the material microstructure. This yielding transition was the main theme of a workshop held from January 9 to 13, 2023 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden. The manuscript presented here offers a critical perspective on the subject, synthesizing insights from the various brainstorming sessions and informal discussions that unfolded during this week of vibrant exchange of ideas. The result of these exchanges takes the form of a series of open questions that represent outstanding experimental, numerical, and theoretical challenges to be tackled in the near future.
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