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Computational morphology and morphogenesis for empowering soft-matter engineering

Morphing soft matter, which is capable of changing its shape and function in response to stimuli, has wide-ranging applications in robotics, medicine and biology. Recently, computational models have accelerated its development. Here, we highlight advances and challenges in developing computational techniques, and explore the potential applications enabled by such models.

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Fig. 1: Diagram of morphological amplitude versus energy, showing snap-through instability and multiple bifurcations of pattern formation and evolution in morphogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 12122204 and 12372096), the Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research-Fudan University (grant number 21TQ1400100-21TQ010) and the Shanghai Shuguang Program (grant number 21SG05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mechanics and Computational Engineering, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Yifan Yang & Fan Xu

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  1. Yifan Yang
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  2. Fan Xu
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F.X. conceived the idea and designed the research. Y.Y. and F.X. wrote the manuscript.

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Fan Xu.

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Yang, Y., Xu, F. Computational morphology and morphogenesis for empowering soft-matter engineering.
Nat Comput Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00647-y

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  • Published: 07 June 2024

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00647-y

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