Related papers: Limitations of curvature--induced rigidity: How a …
Bending the edge of a thin elastic material promotes rigidity far from its clamped boundary. However, this curvature-induced rigidity can be overwhelmed by gravity or other external loading, resulting in elastic buckling and large…
Conforming materials to rigid substrates with Gaussian curvature --- positive for spheres and negative for saddles --- has proven a versatile tool to guide the self-assembly of defects such as scars, pleats, folds, blisters, and liquid…
Induced by proteins within the cell membrane or by differential growth, heating, or swelling, spontaneous curvatures can drastically affect the morphology of thin bodies and induce mechanical instabilities. Yet, the interaction of…
Bifurcation of an elastic structure crucially depends on the curvature of the constraints against which the ends of the structure are prescribed to move, an effect which deserves more attention than it has received so far. In fact, we show…
Curved thin sheets are ubiquitously found in nature and manmade structures. Within the framework of classical thin plate theory, the stiffness of thin sheets is independent of its bending state. This assumption, however, goes against…
A growing or compressed thin elastic sheet adhered to a rigid substrate can exhibit a buckling instability, forming an inward hump. Our study shows that the strip morphology depends on the delicate balance between the compression energy and…
It is well-known that a thin sheet held in a rigid circular clamp has a larger flexural strength than when it is flat. Here, we report that the flexural strength of curved sheets is further increased with a softening of the clamping…
Everyday experience confirms the tendency of adhesive films to detach from spheroidal regions of rigid substrates -- what is a petty frustration when placing a sticky bandage onto an elbow or knee is a more serious matter in the coating and…
A rectangular thin elastic sheet is deformed by forcing a contact between two points at the middle of its length. A transition to buckling with stress focusing is reported for the sheets sufficiently narrow with a critical width…
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…
The principles behind the sharp, singular structures in a crumpled sheet are well understood. Here we discuss more general ways of exploiting such sharp structures to control the shape of a sheet by deforming or forcing it elsewhere. Often,…
When twisting a strip of paper or acetate under high longitudinal tension, one observes, at some critical load, a buckling of the strip into a regular triangular pattern. Very similar triangular facets have recently been observed in…
It is now widely believed that if the gravitational field is (perturbatively) quantum, it would entangle two massive objects (in spatial superpositions) which were otherwise unentangled to begin with. Recently, actual table-top experiments…
Bringing a rigid object into contact with a soft elastic tube causes the tube to conform to the surface of the object, resulting in contact lines. The curvature of the tube walls near these contact lines is often large and is typically…
We study the dynamic coarsening of wrinkles in an elastic sheet that is compressed while lying on a thin layer of viscous liquid. When the ends of the sheet are instantaneously brought together by a small distance, viscous resistance…
The case of a conventional flexible sheet in a uniform flow has been of interest in understanding the underlying physics of passive coupled dynamics between a flexible structure and a flow field. Gravity is known to influence the flapping…
We formulate a nonlinear continuum model of a graphene sheet supported by a flat rigid substrate. The sheet is parallel to the substrate and loaded on a pair of opposite edges. A typical cross-section of the sheet is modeled as an elastica.…
Spontaneous material shape changes, such as swelling, growth or thermal expansion, can be used to trigger dramatic elastic instabilities in thin shells. These instabilities originate in geometric incompatibility between the preferred…
Folding a sheet of paper along a curve can lead to structures seen in decorative art and utilitarian packing boxes. Here we present a theory for the simplest such structure: an annular circular strip that is folded along a central circular…
Snapping of a slender structure is utilized in a wide range of natural and man-made systems, mostly to achieve rapid movement without relying on muscle-like elements. Although several mechanisms for elastic energy storage and rapid release…