Mechanical Instability in Bioinspired Multistable Structures
Zi Chen (Washington University), Qiaohang Guo (), Steven Shillig (), Kevin Chu (), Chi Li (), Douglas Holmes (Virginia Tech)
Instability in Solids and Structures
Tue 2:40 - 4:00
Barus-Holley 190
Nature features various thin shell structures with spontaneous curvatures, such as twistng guts in embryos, curling tendris of cucumber, and snapping surfaces of the Venus flytrap, where mechanical instability also play important roles in the morphogenesis and functioning of the organisms. However, the large deformation and instability of thin structures due to geometric nonlinearity, which often emerge in morphogenesis and nanofabrication, remain incompletely understood. Here, we manufacture spontaneously curved shapes with pre-strains in tabletop experiments, inspired by biological shapes, and investigate their instability with a minimal theory based on linear elasticity. The development of such theoretical and experimental approaches will promote quantitative understanding of the morphogenesis of growing soft tissues, and meet the emergent needs of designing stretchable electronics, artificial muscles and bio-inspired robots.