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Main Authors: Liu, Yang, Razavi, Sepideh, Cicuta, Pietro, Vella, Dominic, Goriely, Alain
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11708
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_version_ 1866911673407766528
author Liu, Yang
Razavi, Sepideh
Cicuta, Pietro
Vella, Dominic
Goriely, Alain
author_facet Liu, Yang
Razavi, Sepideh
Cicuta, Pietro
Vella, Dominic
Goriely, Alain
contents A paradigm for the study of wrinkling in elastic sheet is the Lamé configuration, in which azimuthal wrinkles form in an annular sheet subjected to tensile loads at both edges. Since wrinkles are spatially extended, this instability provides a mechanism for stress transmission over long distances. A natural extension of this problem is wrinkling in sheets with multiple holes or broken symmetry. Here, we investigate tension-induced wrinkling in thin elastic sheets containing two circular holes by combining analytical modeling and experiments. The pre-buckled state is solved analytically using bipolar coordinates, enabling identification of the wrinkling threshold as a function of the distance between the two holes. Near-threshold wrinkling and interactions between wrinkles are analyzed, and we validate our theoretical predictions against experimental observations obtained through video imaging of spin-coated polystyrene sheets floating on liquid surfaces with controlled surface tension. Our results demonstrate that geometric symmetry breaking, such as the presence of a second hole, strongly influences wrinkle nucleation, orientation, and spatial extent. Beyond mechanics, these findings might provide a simple mechanism for cellular mechanosensing, where force transmission is amplified by mechanical instabilities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11708
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tensional wrinkling of thin elastic sheets with two circular holes
Liu, Yang
Razavi, Sepideh
Cicuta, Pietro
Vella, Dominic
Goriely, Alain
Soft Condensed Matter
A paradigm for the study of wrinkling in elastic sheet is the Lamé configuration, in which azimuthal wrinkles form in an annular sheet subjected to tensile loads at both edges. Since wrinkles are spatially extended, this instability provides a mechanism for stress transmission over long distances. A natural extension of this problem is wrinkling in sheets with multiple holes or broken symmetry. Here, we investigate tension-induced wrinkling in thin elastic sheets containing two circular holes by combining analytical modeling and experiments. The pre-buckled state is solved analytically using bipolar coordinates, enabling identification of the wrinkling threshold as a function of the distance between the two holes. Near-threshold wrinkling and interactions between wrinkles are analyzed, and we validate our theoretical predictions against experimental observations obtained through video imaging of spin-coated polystyrene sheets floating on liquid surfaces with controlled surface tension. Our results demonstrate that geometric symmetry breaking, such as the presence of a second hole, strongly influences wrinkle nucleation, orientation, and spatial extent. Beyond mechanics, these findings might provide a simple mechanism for cellular mechanosensing, where force transmission is amplified by mechanical instabilities.
title Tensional wrinkling of thin elastic sheets with two circular holes
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11708