Buckling of an elastic wire inside an elastic matrix

ORAL

Abstract

Using both experiment and dynamic simulation results, we will discuss in this talk how a compressed elastic wire embedded within an elastic matrix buckles into two dimensional (2D) planar shape and then three dimensional (3D) helical shape. We will show that the transitions from the initial 1D to 2D and then 3D configurations can be tuned by and are highly sensitively to the supporting matrix stiffness. This property may be useful for future photonic and piezoelectric devices. Analytic buckling and post-buckling analysis will also be presented to rationalize our results.

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Authors

  • Tianxiang Su

    Harvard University

  • Jia Liu

    Harvard University

  • Denis Terwagne

    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA USA, MIT

  • Katia Bertoldi

    Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

  • Pedro Reis

    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA USA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, Massachsuetts Institute of Technology