Wrinkling on stretched circular membrane under in-plane torsion:: bifurcation analyses and experiments

Wrinkling on a stretched circular membrane under in-plane torsion is a typical and classical problem in the study of wrinkling on membrane structures. This paper presents the experiment and bifurcation analysis concerning this problem. Both isotropic polyester film and orthotropic PVC coated textile are considered. The nonlinear finite element method is used in the analysis. In the experiment, a method to measure stresses in the wrinkled membranes is proposed, and stresses are measured. The stress distributions and the shape of wrinkles observed in the experiments agreed well with those obtained by the analyses. The results of experiments and analyses also show that the tension field is formed in the wrinkled membranes.