| Issue |
EPL
Volume 80, Number 5, December 2007
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 54002 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Electromagnetism, Optics, Acoustics, Heat Transfer, Classical Mechanics, and Fluid Dynamics | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/80/54002 | |
| Published online | 31 October 2007 | |
Folding of flexible rods confined in 2D space
Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l' École Normale Supérieure, CNRS UMR 8550 - 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Received:
12
June
2007
Accepted:
9
October
2007
We propose a statistical field theory to study the properties of elastic rods confined in 
containers. Using a mean-field evaluation of the path integral, we show how a self-reorganization of the folding pattern between disordered and ordered configurations above a critical density leads to a more efficient packing. In addition, we predict the existence of a jamming transition for higher densities. The nature of this jamming transition is compared with similar observations in experiments on packing of flexible structures. The advantage of this approach is that it puts on an equal footing the geometrical features (such as self-avoidance) and the mechanical response to confinement.
PACS: 46.32.+x – Static buckling and instability / 46.65.+g – Random phenomena and media / 45.70.Qj – Pattern formation
© Europhysics Letters Association, 2007
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