We present results from an experimental investigation of the indentation of nonspherical pressurized elastic shells with a positive Gauss curvature. A predictive framework is proposed that rationalizes the dependence of the local rigidity of an indented shell on the curvature in the neighborhood of the locus of indentation, the in-out pressure differential, and the material properties. In our approach, we combine classic theory for spherical shells with recent analytical developments for the pressurized case, and proceed, for the most part, by analogy, guided by our own experiments. By way of example, our results elucidate why an eggshell is significantly stiffer when compressed along its major axis, as compared to doing so along its minor axis. The prominence of geometry in this class of problems points to the relevance and applicability of our findings over a wide range of length scales.
Romain Christophe Rémy Fleury, Haoye Qin, Aleksi Antoine Bossart, Zhechen Zhang
Pedro Miguel Nunes Pereira de Almeida Reis, Célestin Vallat, Tian Chen, Tomohiko Sano, Samuel Jean Bernard Poincloux
Pedro Miguel Nunes Pereira de Almeida Reis, Fani Derveni, Arefeh Abbasi