Buckling of Geometrically Frustrated Frames: Spin Model Approaches and Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

Spin models have been applied to predict the buckled configurations of various geometrically frustrated lattices. In this paper, we apply spin models to model buckling of the triangular and snub trihexagonal lattices under isotropic compression. We then test the validity of the spin model predictions by comparing them to experimental results and computational results using the finite element method (FEM). While finite element simulations often reveal small energy contributions that the spin models do not account for, the spin model predictions overall agree remarkably well with the FEM results.