Constitutive relation for the system-spanning dynamically jammed region in response to impact of cornstarch and water suspensions.

We experimentally characterize the impact response of concentrated suspensions consisting of cornstarch and water. We observe that the suspensions support a large normal stress-on the order of MPa-with a delay after the impactor hits the suspension surface. We show that neither the delay nor the magnitude of the stress can yet be explained by either standard rheological models of shear thickening in terms of steady-state viscosities, or impact models based on added mass or other inertial effects.

Glass transition and rheological redundancy in F-actin solutions.

The unique mechanical performance of animal cells and tissues is attributed mostly to their internal biopolymer meshworks. Its perplexing universality and robustness against structural modifications by drugs and mutations is an enigma in cell biology and provides formidable challenges to materials science. Recent investigations could pinpoint highly universal patterns in the soft glassy rheology and nonlinear elasticity of cells and reconstituted networks.