The Geometry of Crumpled Paper
Abstract
We measure the geometry of a crumpled sheet of paper with laser-aided topography and discuss its statistical properties. The curvature of an elasto-plastic fold scales linearly with applied force. The curvature distribution follows an exponential form with regions of high curvature localized along ridges. The measured ridge length distribution is consistent with a hierarchical model for ridge breaking during crumpling. A large fraction of the ridges are observed to terminate without bifurcating and the ridge network connectedness is not as complete as anticipated. The self-affinity of the surface is characterized by a Hurst exponent of 0.72 0.01 in contrast with previous results.
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