Stretch-induced wrinkling analysis and experimental validation of creased membranes

•A novel planar crease model is proposed considering the residual deformation and stresses.•A set of scaling laws of wrinkling of creased membrane are deduced theoretically.•The wrinkling evolution of creased membrane is revealed by theory model and experiment. Creases and wrinkles are crucial factors affecting the accuracy of membrane structures. In this paper, we study the stretch-induced wrinkling of creased membrane based on a proposed planar crease model by characterizing the crease as an orthotropic rigid strip with effective bending stiffness and initial stress. A control equation of wrinkling of a stretched rectangular membrane with a vertical crease is deduced to understand the crease-wrinkle interaction. Then, a set of scaling laws for the wrinkles is discussed in detail, and it is concluded that the ratio of the bending stiffness of the crease to that of the membrane is the key influence factor. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that wrinkling in the small-strain stage is a localized wrinkling behavior independent of the crease parameters. The wrinkling wavelength and amplitude at large strains decrease with increasing crease angle. Finally, experiments verify the correctness and validity of the theoretical model and analytical method.