On the collapse of locally isostatic networks

Abstract

We examine the flexibility of periodic planar networks built from rigid corner-connected equilateral triangles. Such systems are locally isostatic, since for each triangle the total number of degrees of freedom equals the total number of constraints. These nets are two-dimensional analogues of zeolite frameworks, which are periodic assemblies of corner-sharing tetrahedra. If the corner connections are permitted to rotate, as if pin-jointed, there is always at least one collapse mechanism in two dimensions (and at least three mechanisms in three dimensions). We present a number of examples of such collapse modes for different topologies of triangular net. We show that the number of collapse mechanisms grows with the size of unit cell. The collapsible mechanisms that preserve higher symmetry of the network tend to exhibit the widest range of densities without sterical overlap.