A block-based variational elasto-damage model for masonry analysis inspired from granular micromechanics: Preliminary study

The «materialization» of forces: Why confounding mathematical concept and physical entity makes the design of metamaterials arduous

“…For instance, the microscopically homogeneous materials described by Cauchy continua cannot support distributed couples or double-forces [9][10][11][12] which, instead, can be supported by strain-gradient continua describing, at macro-level, microscopically heterogeneous materials [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The description of the mental process, which produced the materialization of forces, is also relevant when one wants to firmly found (especially if he needs to avoid ambiguities and contradictions in their formulation) the mathematical models suitable to describe and predict nonstandard generalized and desired exotic mechanical properties [20][21][22][23][24][25]. It is also relevant when one wants to solve the fundamental problem of the theory of metamaterials (also known as the synthesis problem), namely the problem of finding a microstructure which, once homogenized, is exhibiting the behavior demanded by the designer by choosing a specific macro-continuum model [26].…”