Nanomechanical Modeling of Viruses

The last couple of years has motivated and triggered more in-depth research in viruses. With the recent advancement in nanotechnology and nanomechanic, the mechanical perspective of virus is an important perspective to explore. Multidisciplinary research is needed in order to gain a full understanding of how viruses work mechanically which encompasses the understanding of defect mechanics, nanomechanics, nonlinear finite element analysis, molecular dynamic and contact mechanic, just to name a few. We discuss methods for describing the physical processes underlying viral structure and self-assembly. We consider an elasticity theory and its properties in the curved space, particularly for application to obtain mechanical properties of viral capsids. We furthermore review some applications to biomechanics and nanomechanical detection of viruses. This review is aimed to spark and gain further interest in the mechanical perspective of viruses which can ultimately lead to the development of new technologies to prevent future pandemics.