Creasing of an everted elastomer tube

Abstract

A cylindrical elastomer tube can stay in an everted state without any applied external forces. If the thickness of the tube is small, the everted tube, except for the regions close to the two ends of the tube, is cylindrical, if the thickness is larger than a critical value, the cross-section of the everted tube becomes noncircular, which is due to mechanical instability. Although the eversion-induced mechanical instability in an elastomer tube has been reported several decades ago, a satisfying explanation of the phenomenon is still unavailable. In all previous studies, linear stability analyses have been commonly adopted to predict the critical thickness of the tube for the eversion-induced instability. The discrepancy between the prediction and experiment is significant and well known. In this letter, based on the experiments and theoretical analyses, we show that crease formation on the inner surface of an everted tube is the mechanical instability mode, which cannot be captured by linear stability analyses. Instead, a combination of energetic analyses and numerical simulation of highly nonlinear deformation enables us to correctly predict both the critical thickness of the tube for the onset of creases and the profile of the cross-section of an everted tube with multiple creases on its inner surface.