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Drying Films Fold Into Open Honeycombs
Experiments and theory link the wavelength and arm length of three-way fold networks to dried-film thickness with the same five-eighths power law.
Summary
Experiments and theory link the wavelength and arm length of three-way fold networks to dried-film thickness with the same five-eighths power law.
Solvent extraction and drying can turn a pinned viscoelastic film or gel into a repeating network of three-armed folds. The study attributes the pattern to compression in a stiffening, diffusively thickening surface skin above a drained underlayer. Both fold wavelength and arm length scaled with dried-film thickness to the five-eighths power and depended only weakly on elastic modulus. The folds met at 120-degree junctions on a triangular lattice, forming an open honeycomb network. Because they absorbed less than 0.1 percent of stored compressive strain, the authors point to elastocapillary arrest rather than bulk strain release as the limit on their amplitude. The mechanism is specific to the tested soft-film systems.
Why it matters
Experiments and theory link the wavelength and arm length of three-way fold networks to dried-film thickness with the same five-eighths power law.
Limits and context
- Both fold wavelength and arm length scaled with dried-film thickness to the five-eighths power and depended only weakly on elastic modulus.
Key claims
Experiments and theory link the wavelength and arm length of three-way fold networks to dried-film thickness with the same five-eighths power law.
Qualification: Both fold wavelength and arm length scaled with dried-film thickness to the five-eighths power and depended only weakly on elastic modulus.
Evidence: source-2026-11-02-014
Sources
- arXiv preprint 2610.42074, original v1arXiv · primary research
Corrections
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