Re-use of this resource is governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
creative commons DoITPoMS logo
Wedging Energies

graph Energy /mJ 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 4 8 12 16 20 c /mm
We start with the expression for the elastic strain energy in the bent strip of material:
\[ U_E=\frac{Ed^{3}h^{2}}{8c^{3}} \]

graph >
We then include the energy required to create two new surfaces:
\[ U_S=cR \]

graph >
We then sum the two together to give us our full energy expression:
\[ U=\frac{Ed^{3}h^{2}}{8c^{3}}+cR \]

Now let us have a look at what happens when we move our wedge.

c