title: Failure of viral shells.
abstract: We report a combined theoretical and experimental study of the structural failure of viral shells under mechanical stress. We find that discontinuities in the force-indentation curve associated with failure should appear when the so-called Föppl-von Kármán (FvK) number exceeds a critical value. A nanoindentation study of a viral shell subject to a soft-mode instability, where the stiffness of the shell decreases with increasing pH, confirms the predicted onset of failure as a function of the FvK number.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Klug
authors.forename: Robijn F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Bruinsma
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Knobler
authors.forename: Irena L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Ivanovska
authors.forename: Christoph F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Gijs J L
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wuite
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D017795:Bromovirus / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002213:Capsid / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004548:Elasticity; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008954:Models, Biological; D013314:Stress, Mechanical