Related papers: Crumpling for Energy: Modeling Generated Power fro…
In our common experience, crumpling a sheet requires external compressive force and leads to a random network of folds. However, thin sheets have been theoretically predicted to spontaneously transition from a flat to a crumpled state…
Developing low-weight, frugal and sustainable power sources for resource-limited settings appears to be a challenging proposition for the advancement of next-generation sensing devices and beyond. Here, we report the use of centimeter-sized…
Insight in the crumpling or compaction of one-dimensional objects is of great importance for understanding biopolymer packaging and designing innovative technological devices. By compacting various types of wires in rigid confinements and…
As wearable electronics become increasingly prevalent, there is a rise in interest and demand for sustainably designed systems that are also energy self-sufficient. The research described in this paper investigated a shoe-worn energy…
We investigate the force generation by polymerizing bundles of filaments, which form because of short-range attractive filament interactions. We show that bundles can generate forces by a zipping mechanism, which is not limited by buckling…
Crumpling of a thin film leads to a unique stiff yet lightweight structure. The stiffness has been attributed to a complex interplay between four basic elements - smooth bends, sharp folds, localized points (developable cones), and…
The phenomenon of crumpling is common in our daily life and nature. It exhibits many interesting properties, such as ultra-tough resistance to pressure with less than 30$\%$ of volume density, power-law relation for pressure vs density, and…
Interfacial energy dissipation during stick-slip motion of a liquid drop on a non-conductive polymer substrate is shown to lead to an irreversible increase in electrical charge. This previously unobserved phenomenon occurs during surface…
Understanding how to produce forces using biomolecular building blocks is essential for the development of adaptive synthetic cells and living materials. Here we ask whether a dynamic polymer system can generate deformation forces in soft…
When a thin elastic sheet crumples, the elastic energy condenses into a network of folding lines and point vertices. These folds and vertices have elastic energy densities much greater than the surrounding areas, and most of the work…
Thin elastic solids are easily deformed into a myriad of three-dimensional shapes, which may contain sharp localized structures as in a crumpled candy wrapper, or have smooth and diffuse features like the undulating edge of a flower.…
We consider the elastic energy of a hanging drape -- a thin elastic sheet, pulled down by the force of gravity, with fine-scale folding at the top that achieves approximately uniform confinement. This example of energy-driven pattern…
We analyze theoretically and by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations the generation of mechanical force by a polyelectrolyte (PE) chain grafted to a plane. The PE is exposed to an external electric field that favors its adsorption…
From magnetic systems to the crust of the earth, many physical systems that exibit a multiplicty of metastable states emit pulses with a broad power law distribution in energy. Digital audio recordings reveal that paper being crumpled, a…
The performances of energy harvesting generators based on dielectric elastomers are investigated. The configuration is of a thin dielectric film coated by stretchable electrodes at both sides. The film is first stretched, then charged and…
An energy-minimal simulation is proposed to study the patterns and mechanical properties of elastically crumpled wires in two dimensions. We varied the bending rigidity and stretching modulus to measure the energy allocation, size-mass…
The buckling and twisting of slender, elastic fibers is a deep and well-studied field. A slender elastic rod that is twisted with respect to a fixed end will spontaneously form a loop, or hockle, to relieve the torsional stress that builds.…
Soft robotics requires materials that are capable of large deformation and amenable to actuation with external stimuli such as electric fields. Energy harvesting, biomedical devices, flexible electronics and sensors are some other…
A dielectric elastomer generator (DEG) can be used for converting mechanical energy from natural motion sources such as walking, waves, trees etc, into electrical energy. A DEG is comprised of a soft and flexible Dielectric Elastomer…
We investigate the crumpling of a sheet as it is repeatedly crushed onto itself by rolling it into a cylinder and twisting it axially while allowing the end-to-end length to evolve freely. As deduced from its plastic deformations, the sheet…