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Wrinkling of pressurized elastic shells
Dominic Vella1, Amin Ajdari, Ashkan Vaziri
1OCCAM, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, 24-29 St Giles', Oxford, OX1 3LB, United Kingdom.
Physical Review Letters
|November 24, 2011
Summary
Pressurized elastic shells wrinkle under point loading, unlike unpressurized shells that buckle. This study reveals scaling laws for wrinkling and suggests using wrinkle patterns to estimate shell mechanical properties.
Area of Science:
- Solid Mechanics
- Materials Science
- Structural Engineering
Background:
- Unpressurized elastic shells deform into polygonal structures under point loading.
- Internally pressurized shells exhibit different instability behaviors under external forces.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the wrinkling instability in internally pressurized elastic shells under point loading.
- Develop scaling laws for critical indentation and wrinkle formation.
- Explore methods for estimating shell mechanical properties using wrinkling patterns.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of localized structure formation.
- Derivation of scaling laws for wrinkling instability.
- Validation through numerical simulations.
Main Results:
- Pressurized shells exhibit a wrinkling instability, distinct from buckling in unpressurized shells.
- Established scaling laws for critical indentation load and number of wrinkles based on internal pressure and material properties.
- Demonstrated that wrinkle evolution in highly pressurized shells aligns with membrane theory.
Conclusions:
- Wrinkling is a key instability in pressurized elastic shells under point loading.
- The developed scaling laws provide quantitative predictions for wrinkling behavior.
- Wrinkle characteristics offer a potential non-destructive method for determining the mechanical properties of pressurized shells.
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