Numerical study on the dynamic properties of wrinkled membranes

A membrane is flexible and tends to wrinkle under small compression. The wrinkling deformation adversely affects its surface profile and mechanical behavior and it should be controlled. Identifying the wrinkle-influencing factors and analyzing their effects on the performance of a membrane may help to devise a better way to reduce or eliminate the wrinkling deformation. In this paper, the authors discuss the wrinkle-influencing factors such as pre-stress, Poisson ratio, Young's modulus, thickness and boundary conditions, and numerically analyze their effects on the dynamic properties of a rectangular membrane under shear and a square membrane under corner loads with the membrane element previously proposed by the authors. Some interesting phenomena are noted in the analysis and they are discussed.