Numerical exploration on snap buckling of a pre-stressed hemispherical gridshell

Motivated by the observations of snap-through phenomena in pre-stressed strips and curved shells, we numerically investigate the snapping of a pre-buckled hemispherical gridshell under apex load indentation. Our experimentally validated numerical framework on elastic gridshell simulation combines two components: (i) Discrete Elastic Rods method, for the geometrically nonlinear description of one dimensional rods; and (ii) a naive penalty-based energy functional, to perform the non-deviation condition between two rods at joint. An initially planar grid of slender rods can be actuated into a three dimensional hemispherical shape by loading its extremities through a prescribed path, known as buckling induced assembly; next, this pre-buckled structure can suddenly change its bending direction at some threshold points when compressing its apex to the other side. We find that the hemispherical gridshell can undergo snap-through buckling through two different paths based on two different apex loading conditions. The first critical snap-through point slightly increases as the number of rods in gridshell structure becomes denser, which emphasizes the mechanically nonlocal property in hollow grids, in contrast to the local response of continuum shells. The findings may bridge the gap among rods, grids, knits, and shells, for a fundamental understanding of a group of thin elastic structures, and inspire the design of novel micro-electro-mechanical systems and functional metamaterials.

A 2D Hyperchaotic Map: Amplitude Control, Coexisting Symmetrical Attractors and Circuit Implementation

An absolute value function was introduced for chaos construction, where hyperchaotic oscillation was found with amplitude rescaling. The nonlinear absolute term brings the convenience for amplitude control. Two regimes of amplitude control including total and partial amplitude control are discussed, where the attractor can be rescaled separately by two independent coefficients. Symmetrical pairs of coexisting attractors are captured by corresponding initial conditions. Circuit implementation by the platform STM32 is consistent with the numerical exploration and the theoretical observation. This finding is helpful for promoting discrete map application, where amplitude control is realized in an easy way and coexisting symmetrical sequences with opposite polarity are obtained.