Buckling dynamics of a solvent-stimulated stretched elastomeric sheet

Abstract

When stretched uniaxially, a thin elastic sheet may exhibit buckling. The occurrence of buckling depends on the geometrical properties of the sheet and the magnitude of the applied strain. Here we show that an elastomeric sheet initially stable under uniaxial stretching can destabilize when exposed to a solvent that swells the elastomer. We demonstrate experimentally and computationally that the features of the buckling pattern depend on the magnitude of stretching, and this observation offers a new way for controlling the shape of a swollen homogeneous thin sheet.