Simulation of constrained elastic curves and application to a conical sheet indentation problem

Abstract

We consider variational problems that model the bending behavior of curves that are constrained to belong to given hypersurfaces. Finite element discretizations of corresponding functionals are justified rigorously via Gamma-convergence. The stability of semi-implicit discretizations of gradient flows is investigated which provide a practical method to determine stationary configurations. A particular application of the considered models arises in the description of conical sheet deformations.