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 […]
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New paper: Wrinkling in non-Euclidean strips
Differential growth processes play a prominent role in shaping leaves and biological tissues. Using both analytical and numerical calculations, we consider the shapes of closed, elastic strips which have been subjected to an inhomogeneous pattern of swelling. The stretching and bending energies of a closed strip are frustrated by compatibility constraints between the curvatures and […]
New paper: A smooth cascade of wrinkles at the edge of a floating elastic film
The mechanism by which a patterned state accommodates the breaking of translational symmetry by a phase boundary or a sample wall has been addressed in the context of Landau branching in type-I superconductors, refinement of magnetic domains, and compressed elastic sheets. We explore this issue by studying an ultrathin polymer sheet floating on the surface […]