Mechanics of thin structures made of soft solids

Thin structures made of soft materials are ubiquitous in nature (soft tissues such as leaves, skin) and in engineering design (balloons, tents). This project aims at using the theory of nonlinear elasticity to develop an understanding of deformation characteristics of thin structures. Of particular importance is to model the wrinkling phenomenon and buckling and limit point instabilities during inflation in thin structures.

Wrinkles in skin are a form of mechanical instability that usually occurs due to change in moisture content/ temperature/ ageing effects. From a mechanical perspective, these wrinkles are same as those found in balloons, tents, plastic food packaging and other inanimate structures. With the help of mathematical models of nonlinear elasticity, we aim to determine the partial differential equations that govern wrinkling and buckling in these systems. These equations will be solved using computational techniques using open source software.