Growth of a flexible fibre in a deformable ring

Abstract

We study the equilibrium configurations related to the growth of an elastic fibre in a confining flexible ring. This system represents a paradigm for a variety of biological, medical, and engineering problems. We consider a simplified geometry in which initially the container is a circular ring of radius R. Quasi-static growth is then studied by solving the equilibrium equations as the fibre length l increases, starting from l = 2R. Considering both the fibre and the ring as inextensible and unshearable, we find that beyond a critical length, which depends on the relative bending stiffness, the fibre buckles. Furthermore, as the fibre grows further it folds, distorting the ring until it induces a break in mirror symmetry at l > 2πR. We get that the equilibrium shapes depend only on two dimensionless parameters: the length ratio μ = l/R and the bending stiffnesses ratio κ. These findings are also supported by finite element simulation. Finally we experimentally validate the theoretical results showing a very good quantitative prediction of the observed buckling and folding regimes at variable geometrical parameters.