University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP) > Making do with less: optimal wrapping of liquid droplets with ultrathin sheets.

Making do with less: optimal wrapping of liquid droplets with ultrathin sheets.

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Many objects in nature and industry are enclosed in protective wrappings. I will show how an initially-flat polymer film wraps a water droplet whose volume is gradually decreased. The resulting conformations are highly non-axisymmetric and are patterned with small-scale wrinkles, folds, and crumples, all interacting in a non-uniform curved geometry. Remarkably, the essence of the wrapping process can be understood without describing any of these complicated small-scale features. In particular, a thin sheet spontaneously maximizes the volume of the enclosed liquid, given a fixed area of the initially flat sheet. I will close by discussing the application of this geometric principle to other settings.​

This talk is part of the Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP) series.

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