Flow-Induced Draping

TL;DR

This study investigates how a circular elastic plate deforms under increasing uniform flow, revealing a sequence of shapes that can be predicted by a linear elastic-pressure balance model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup for flow-induced deformation of elastic sheets and demonstrates predictive modeling of complex shape transitions.

Findings

Sequence of deformations from taco-like to developable cones

Deformation shapes can be predicted by linear analysis

Flow velocity controls shape transitions

Abstract

Crumpled paper or drapery patterns are everyday examples of how elastic sheets can respond to external forcing. In this Letter, we study experimentally a novel sort of forcing. We consider a circular flexible plate clamped at its center and subject to a uniform flow normal to its initial surface. As the flow velocity is gradually increased, the plate exhibits a rich variety of bending deformations: from a cylindrical taco-like shape, to isometric developable cones with azimuthal periodicity two or three, to eventually a rolled-up period-three cone. We show that this sequence of flow-induced deformations can be qualitatively predicted by a linear analysis based on the balance between elastic energy and pressure force work.