We study the formation and evolution of localized geometrical defects in an indented cylindrical elastic shell using a combination of experiment and numerical simulation. We find that as a symmetric localized indentation on a semi-cylindrical shell increases, there is a transition from a global mode of deformation to a localized one which leads to the condensation of curvature along a symmetric parabolic crease. This process introduces a soft mode in the system, converting a load-bearing structure into a hinged, kinematic mechanism. Further indentation leads to twinning wherein the parabolic crease bifurcates into two creases that move apart on either side of the line of symmetry. A qualitative theory captures the main features of the phenomena and leads to sharper questions about the nucleation of these defects.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0605210,
title = {Curvature condensation and bifurcation in an elastic shell},
author = {Moumita Das and Ashkan Vaziri and Arshad Kudrolli and L. Mahadevan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0605210},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters