Mechanics of Graded Wrinkling
Shabnam Raayai (MIT), Mary Boyce (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Mechanics of Thin Films and Multilayered Structures
Tue 4:20 - 5:40
Salomon 203
Nature uses surface texture as a means to maintain cleanliness, prevent adhesion, reduce drag, etc. As a way to mimic nature to get these properties different methods such as wrinkling have been introduced. Wrinkled patterns have gained importance in applications such as microfluidics, wetting and adhesion. Through buckling of a thin film of stiff material on a substrate of softer material, and maintaining uniform geometries, uniform wrinkled patterns can be created. However, it can be shown that using the same principle, by changing the geometry of the surface, the dimensions of the wrinkles can be altered. This alteration turns uniform wrinkles into graded wrinkles, having varying amplitudes and wave lengths along the length of the film. Here using finite element models, experiments and analytical solutions, the relations between different geometries and the properties of resulting patterns were investigated.