Maxwell’s tape measure

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Jamie Clarkson, PhD student, CUED
• Friday 16 May 2025, 16:00-17:00
• JDB Seminar Room, CUED.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact div-c.

Tape-springs are thin, transversely curved strips, of which the carpenter’s tape measures is a familiar everyday example. When you bend a tape-spring, it initially deforms uniformly, before suddenly forming a highly curved “fold” region: an example of elastic localisation. The curvature in the fold and unfolded regions are governed by the Maxwell equal areas construction – familiar from thermodynamics – applied to the tape-spring moment-curvature relationship. In our recent work, we have introduced “tapered-springs”: tape-springs with varying cross-sectional geometry along their length. When bent, we observe novel spiral-shaped folds and “jumping” behaviour. Key to understanding this behaviour is the fact that the Maxwell equal-areas construction must be satisfied specifically on the propagating fronts of the fold

This talk is part of the Engineering - Dynamics and Vibration Tea Time Talks series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Cambridge University Engineering Department Talks
• Cambridge talks
• Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction
• Civil Engineering Talks
• Computational Continuum Mechanics Group Seminars
• Engineering - Dynamics and Vibration Tea Time Talks
• Engineering - Mechanics, Materials and Design (Div C) - talks and events
• Featured lists
• Interested Talks
• JDB Seminar Room, CUED
• School of Technology
• Trust & Technology Initiative - interesting events
• bld31

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.