Many phenomenological aspects of shell structures are far from being understood and pose fundamental challenges for applications of mechanics in new areas such as nanostructures and biology. One such peculiar and unexplored phenomenon, which is driven by highly-nonlinear mechanisms, is the existence and evolution of stable localized structures in compressed shells. The main goal of this proposed study is to shed light into existence, formation and evolution of stable localized structures in elastic shells. The work entails developing a theoretical model to explore the qualitative aspects of this phenomenon and constructing detailed computational models to numerically simulate the response of compressed elastic shells subject to lateral perturbation with high fidelity. Furthermore, experimentation on thin shells will be conducted to unravel the physical mechanisms of formation and evolution of these interacting localized structures.
Intellectual Merit. The intellectual merits of this research are vast: Our computational simulation will provide insight into a new phenomenon in elastic shells which can impact several scientific fields other than the Mechanics of Solids and Materials. Our computational model, which simulates quasi-static and dynamic response of the system incorporating the geometrical nonlinearity effect, enables detailed modeling of the structural behavior of shells and can provide valuable insight into the mechanisms driving large deformation and instability of shell and plate structures. In addition, rigorous experimental investigations will help validating our computational simulations and revealing physical mechanisms of formation and evolution of interacting localized structures.
Broader Impacts. This project is important not only in terms of its immediate goals with respect to understanding the formation and evolution of localized structures and patterns in elastic shells, but also in the broader context of Mechanics of Highly-Deformed Structures. First, the results of this research will expand our fundamental knowledge on the behavior of shell structures deformed deeply in the nonlinear regime and their instability. While the broader impact of our research will be in elucidating a novel phenomenon in shell structures which not only can impact several scientific fields, but also has potential technical and commercial applications by providing new avenues for controlled patterning of elastic shells. Particular emphasis will be given to the interdisciplinary aspects of the subject and academic collaborators have been identified to add perspective and disseminate information to explore the interdisciplinary applications of this project.
