Creases on the interface between two soft materials.

Jin, Lihua; Chen, Dayong; Hayward, Ryan C; Suo, Zhigang · Soft Matter · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Theory and experiment are presented to show that an interface between two soft materials under compression can form creases, a type of bifurcation distinct from wrinkles. While creases bifurcate from a state of flat interface by a deformation localized in space and large in amplitude, wrinkles bifurcate from a state of flat interface by a deformation nonlocal in space and infinitesimal in amplitude. The interfacial creases set in at a lower critical compression than interfacial wrinkles, but higher than surface creases. The condition for the onset of interfacial creases is scale-free, and is calculated in terms of elastic moduli, pre-strains and applied strains.