Canceling the elastic Poynting effect with geometry

Destrade, M., Du, Y. , Blackwell, J., Colgan, N. and Balbi, V. (2023) Canceling the elastic Poynting effect with geometry. Physical Review E, 107(5), L053001. (doi: 10.1103/physreve.107.l053001)

Abstract

The Poynting effect is a paragon of nonlinear soft matter mechanics. It is the tendency (found in all incompressible, isotropic, hyperelastic solids) exhibited by a soft block to expand vertically when sheared horizontally. It can be observed whenever the length of the cuboid is at least four times its thickness. Here we show that the Poynting effect can be easily reversed and the cuboid can shrink vertically, simply by reducing this aspect ratio. In principle, this discovery means that for a given solid, say one used as a seismic wave absorber under a building, an optimal ratio exists where vertical displacements and vibrations can be completely eliminated. Here we first recall the classical theoretical treatment of the positive Poynting effect, and then show experimentally how it can be reversed. Using finite-element simulations, we then investigate how the effect can be suppressed. We find that cubes always provide a reverse Poynting effect, irrespective of their material properties (in the third-order theory of weakly nonlinear elasticity).

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work received financial support from the Irish Research Council postgraduate scholarship GOIPG/2018/82 (James Blackwell).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Du, Dr Yangkun
• Authors: Destrade, M., Du, Y., Blackwell, J., Colgan, N., and Balbi, V.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
• Journal Name: Physical Review E
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 1539-3755
• ISSN (Online): 1550-2376
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Physical Review E 107(5):L053001
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license