Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension

The localized loading of an elastic sheet floating on a liquid bath occurs at scales from a frog sitting on a lily pad to a volcano supported by the Earth’s tectonic plates. The load is supported by a combination of the stresses within the sheet (which may include applied tensions from, for example,...

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Main Authors: Box, F, Vella, D, Style, R, Neufeld, J
Format: Journal article
Published: Royal Society 2017
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author Box, F
Vella, D
Style, R
Neufeld, J
author_facet Box, F
Vella, D
Style, R
Neufeld, J
author_sort Box, F
collection OXFORD
description The localized loading of an elastic sheet floating on a liquid bath occurs at scales from a frog sitting on a lily pad to a volcano supported by the Earth’s tectonic plates. The load is supported by a combination of the stresses within the sheet (which may include applied tensions from, for example, surface tension) and the hydrostatic pressure in the liquid. At the same time, the sheet deforms, and may wrinkle, because of the load. We study this problem in terms of the (relatively weak) applied tension and the indentation depth. For small indentation depths, we find that the force–indentation curve is linear with a stiffness that we characterize in terms of the applied tension and bending stiffness of the sheet. At larger indentations the force–indentation curve becomes nonlinear and the sheet is subject to a wrinkling instability. We study this wrinkling instability close to the buckling threshold and calculate both the number of wrinkles at onset and the indentation depth at onset, comparing our theoretical results with experiments. Finally, we contrast our results with those previously reported for very thin, highly bendable membranes.
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spelling oxford-uuid:1c9fc6b9-c39e-4fc0-835b-314702dc04e82022-03-26T11:06:33ZIndentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tensionJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1c9fc6b9-c39e-4fc0-835b-314702dc04e8Symplectic Elements at OxfordRoyal Society2017Box, FVella, DStyle, RNeufeld, JThe localized loading of an elastic sheet floating on a liquid bath occurs at scales from a frog sitting on a lily pad to a volcano supported by the Earth’s tectonic plates. The load is supported by a combination of the stresses within the sheet (which may include applied tensions from, for example, surface tension) and the hydrostatic pressure in the liquid. At the same time, the sheet deforms, and may wrinkle, because of the load. We study this problem in terms of the (relatively weak) applied tension and the indentation depth. For small indentation depths, we find that the force–indentation curve is linear with a stiffness that we characterize in terms of the applied tension and bending stiffness of the sheet. At larger indentations the force–indentation curve becomes nonlinear and the sheet is subject to a wrinkling instability. We study this wrinkling instability close to the buckling threshold and calculate both the number of wrinkles at onset and the indentation depth at onset, comparing our theoretical results with experiments. Finally, we contrast our results with those previously reported for very thin, highly bendable membranes.
spellingShingle Box, F
Vella, D
Style, R
Neufeld, J
Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title_full Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title_fullStr Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title_full_unstemmed Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title_short Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension
title_sort indentation of a floating elastic sheet geometry versus applied tension
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AT vellad indentationofafloatingelasticsheetgeometryversusappliedtension
AT styler indentationofafloatingelasticsheetgeometryversusappliedtension
AT neufeldj indentationofafloatingelasticsheetgeometryversusappliedtension