Indentation of an elastic disk on a circular supporting ring

TL;DR

This paper investigates how an elastic disk supported by a ring relieves compressive stresses through buckling or d-cone formation, combining experimental and theoretical analysis to characterize thresholds based on aspect ratio.

Contribution

It provides a combined experimental and theoretical study of indentation-induced stress relief mechanisms in elastic disks supported by a circular ring.

Findings

Identification of buckling and d-cone formation as stress relief routes

Quantitative thresholds for wrinkle and d-cone development based on aspect ratio

Experimental validation of theoretical predictions

Abstract

Thin elastic two-dimensionnal systems under compressive stresses may relieve part of their stretching energy by developing out of plane undulations. We investigate experimentally and theoretically the indentation of an elastic disk supported by a circular ring and show that compressive stresses are relieved via two different routes : either developing \textit{buckles} which are spread over the system or developing a \textit{d-cone} where deformation is concentrated in a subregion of the system. We characterize the indentation threshold for wrinkles or d-cone existence as a function of aspect ratio.