Date
Wed, 03 Nov 2010
10:10
Location
OCCAM Common Room (RI2.28)
Speaker
Sebastien Neukirch
Organisation
Universite Pierre et Marie Curie

We derive solutions of the Kirchhoff equations for a knot tied on an infinitely long elastic rod subjected to combined tension and twist. We consider the case of simple (trefoil) and double (cinquefoil) knots; other knot topologies can be investigated similarly. The rod model is based on Hookean elasticity but is geometrically non-linear. The problem is formulated as a non-linear self-contact problem with unknown contact regions. It is solved by means of matched asymptotic expansions in the limit of a loose knot. Without any a priori assumption, we derive the topology of the contact set, which consists of an interval of contact flanked by two isolated points of contacts. We study the influence of the applied twist on the equilibrium and find an instability for a threshold value of the twist.

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