Hemihelical local minimizers in prestrained elastic bi-strips

Abstract

We consider a double-layered prestrained elastic rod in the limit of vanishing cross section. For the resulting limit Kirchhoff rod model with intrinsic curvature, we prove a supercritical bifurcation result, rigorously showing the emergence of a branch of hemihelical local minimizers from the straight configuration, at a critical force and under clamping at both ends. As a consequence we obtain the existence of nontrivial local minimizers of the 3-d system.