Skip to main content
Unpublished Paper
Programmed Buckling by Controlled Lateral Swelling in a Thin Elastic Sheet
Physical Review E (2011)
  • M. A. Dias
  • J. A. Hanna
  • Christian Santangelo
Abstract

Recent experiments have imposed controlled swelling patterns on thin polymer films, which subsequently buckle into three-dimensional shapes. We develop a solution to the design problem suggested by such systems, namely, if and how one can generate particular three-dimensional shapes from thin elastic sheets by mere imposition of a two-dimensional pattern of locally isotropic growth. Not every shape is possible. Several types of obstruction can arise, some of which depend on the sheet thickness. We provide some examples using the axisymmetric form of the problem, which is analytically tractable.

Disciplines
Publication Date
September 10, 2011
Comments
Prepublished version downloaded from ArXiv. Published version is located at http://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036603 http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036603
Citation Information
M. A. Dias, J. A. Hanna and Christian Santangelo. "Programmed Buckling by Controlled Lateral Swelling in a Thin Elastic Sheet" Physical Review E (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/christian_santangelo/26/