Relation between the contact force and local geometry for an elastic curve under general surface confinement

Abstract

Confinement of filamentary objects is ubiquitous in numerous biological, medical, and engineering scenarios. Quantitatively determining the mechanical interaction between flexible filaments and surface confinement is particularly challenging due to the unknown contact force induced by elasticity interacting with geometric constraints. Here, we consider a simplified model of confined filamentary object: an elastic curve under surface confinement. Local force and moment balance equation incorporating the role of contact is utilized to derive the contact force exerted by surface on the confined elastic curve. It reveals the relation between contact force and local geometry at balanced state and provides a route to obtain the contact force from local confined geometry directly. Examples are provided to illustrate how to calculate contact force from obtained geometries. We believe that our results contribute to future efforts in the mechanics of filamentary objects under surface confinement.