A computational model of thin sheets crumpled via twisting

Crumpling occurs across all length scales, sometimes arising as a feature (such as the energy-dissipating crushing of a car body during a collision) and other times as a bug (like material damage or failure in industrial manufacturing processes). In all instances, it is essential we understand the complex buckling and wrinkling modes which result in disordered, crumpled configurations. These mechanical transitions remain poorly understood, although some progress has come through studying the crease networks of physically crumpled thin sheets. To supplement these experimental snapshots, we introduce an efficient computational model for thin sheets that reproduces their mechanical properties and captures the phenomenology of plastic deformation under confinement. Our simulations allow careful analysis of the sheet’s topography and curvature; temporal resolution of damage accumulation and ridge fragmentation; and reveal the hidden internal energy dynamics of the intricate, evolving system.