  It is generally understood that geometric frustration prevents maximal
hexagonal packings in uniform filament bundles upon twist. We demonstrate that
a hexagonal packed elastic filament bundle can preserve its order over a wide
range of twist due to a subtle counteraction of geometric expansion with
elastic contraction. Using x-ray scanning and by locating each filament in the
bundle, we show the remarkable persistence of order even as the twist is
increased well above 360 degrees, by measuring the spatial correlation function
across the bundle crosssection. We introduce a model which analyzes the
combined effects of elasticity including filament stretching, and radial and
hoop compression necessary to explain this generic preservation of order
observed with Hookean filaments.
