The clapping book: Wind-driven oscillations in a stack of elastic sheets

Peter Buchak (1) , Christophe Eloy (2) , Pedro M. Reis (3)

1 Department of mathematics
2 IRPHE - Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre
3 MIT-MECHE - Department of Mechanical Engineering [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]

We present a hybrid experimental and theoretical study on the oscillatory behavior exhibited by multiple thin sheets under aerodynamic loading. Our clapping book consists of a stack of paper, clamped at the downstream end and placed in a wind tunnel with steady flow. As pages lift off, they accumulate onto a bent stack held up by the wind. The book collapses shut once the elasticity and weight of the pages overcome the aerodynamic force; this process repeats periodically. We develop a theoretical model that predictively describes this periodic clapping process.

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Peter Buchak, Christophe Eloy, Pedro M. Reis. The clapping book: Wind-driven oscillations in a stack of elastic sheets. Physical Review Letters, 2010, 105, pp.194301. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.194301⟩. ⟨hal-00712231⟩