Studying the Sensitivity of the Wrinkling Process to Mesh Imperfections Using COMSOL Multiphysics® and LiveLink™ for MATLAB®

S. K. Saha[1], M. L. Culpepper[1]
[1]Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Published in 2013

Wrinkles are formed on a thin film as a result of buckling-based instabilities. This can be used as an inexpensive fabrication technique for generating micro and nano scale periodic patterns. Finite element techniques are used for the predictive design of complex wrinkling patterns. As wrinkles are formed via a bifurcation process, the accuracy of these models is dependent on the initial geometric imperfections in the system. COMSOL Multiphysics® and the LiveLink™ for MATLAB® were used to generate the initial weighted imperfections, set up the nonlinear studies, and post-process the nonlinear analysis for bifurcation. This technique can be used to perform an automated search/exploration over a wide range of the design space for optimum patterns.