Hydrodynamic flutter and free-surface breakup of a retracting elastic sheet

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 46, November 2025. SignificanceWe discuss the tension-induced dynamics of an elastic sheet coupled with an interfacial flow. Flutter at the free end of the retracting sheet is initiated by shear-driven instability on the air–water interface, leading to uniformly spaced …