Shape formation of helical ribbons induced by materialanisotropy

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 110; no. 9
• Main Authors: Yu Xiaojiao, Hu, Nan, Grover, Hannah, Huang, Shicheng, Wang, Dong, Chen, Zi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville American Institute of Physics 27-02-2017
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Applied physics; Axes (reference lines); Chirality; Composite materials; Elasticity; Finite element method; Helices; Mechanical properties; Misalignment; Morphology
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118

Helices are ubiquitous building blocks in natural and engineered systems. Previousstudies showed that helical ribbon morphology can result from anisotropic driving forces andgeometric misorientation between the principal axes of the driving forces and thegeometric axes. However, helical ribbon shapes induced by elastic modulusanisotropy havenot been systematically examined even though most natural and engineered structures aremade of composite materials with anisotropic mechanical properties. We build on a previously developedmodel using continuum elasticity and stationarity principles to predict helical ribbonshapes induced by materialanisotropy underboth isotropic and anisotropic pre-stretching conditions. Results from finite element analysis andtable-top experiments showed that the principal curvatures, chirality, and helix angles canbe further tuned in anisotropic ribbons under both isotropic and anisotropic pre-stretchingconditions. This work can promote programmable design and fabrication of curved structuresand devices.