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Xiqiao Feng, Michel Destrade and Fan Xu (Editors), Special issue of International Journal of Non-linear Mechanics, Stability and Bifurcation in Materials and Structures, Vol. 126, November 2020

Buckling of solids and structures made of traditional hard materials, such as steel, should usually be avoided in engineering. In contrast, in the recent years, extreme materials and structures, such as soft matters, thin films, biomembranes and slender structures, are often at the heart of modern technologies, and their studies have implications and applications in many areas ranging from biology, electronics manufacturing, soft robotics, flexible devices, aerospace engineering to civil engineering. A basic characteristic of such extreme materials is their ability to experience large deformations under multiple fields, which inevitably lead to the formation of surface patterns across length scales that are much more varied and complicated than those in traditional materials and structures. Such pattern formation often results from multiple bifurcations or loss of stability. Knowledge on how such instabilities arise and evolve is essential to describe, understand, predict, and ultimately design complex materials and structures in modern industry, for example, wrinkle-driven surface renewal and antifouling, shape/texture morphing for camouflaging skins, and micro/nano-scale surface patterning control. This requires advanced theories, computational, and experimental approaches.
It is therefore timely to bring together a collection of papers dealing with these different aspects on mechanics of extreme materials and slender structures to summarize the state-of-the-art in fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction of highly nonlinear deformation as well as diverse engineering applications in this vibrant research field, and pointing to the needs for further research. Contributions addressing the theoretical, experimental and computational aspects of these topics are welcome. To ensure a high-quality review process, the articles will be reviewed by external experts.

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