2019/12/19 by Xinyu Wang, Simon D. Guest, Wang, Xinyu +3
Engineering · #Advanced Materials and Mechanics #Structural Analysis and Optimization #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence
paper · doi:10.17863/cam.47178
Traditional origami structures can be continuously deformed back to a flat sheet of paper, while traditional kirigami requires glue or seams in order to maintain its rigidity. In the former, non-trivial geometry can be created through overfolding paper while, in the latter, the paper topology is modified. Here we propose a hybrid approach that relies upon overlapped flaps that create in-plane compression resulting in the formation of "virtual" elastic shells. Not only are these structures self-supporting, but they have colossal load-to-weight ratios of order 10000.