Locking mechanisms in degree-4 vertex origami structures. Fang, H., Li, S., Xu, J., & Wang, K., W. In Proc. SPIE 9799 Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems, volume 1, pages 979910, 4, 2016.
Locking mechanisms in degree-4 vertex origami structures [pdf]Paper  Locking mechanisms in degree-4 vertex origami structures [link]Website  abstract   bibtex   
Origami has emerged as a potential tool for the design of mechanical metamaterials and metastructures whose novel properties originate from their crease patterns. Most of the attention in origami engineering has focused on the well- known Miura-Ori, a folded tessellation that is flat-foldable for folded sheet and stacked blocks. This study advances the state of the art and expands the research field to investigate generic degree-4 vertex (4-vertex) origami, with a focus on facet-binding. In order to understand how facet-binding attributes to the mechanical properties of 4-vertex origami struc- tures, geometries of the 4-vertex origami cells are analyzed and analytically expressed. Through repeating and stacking 4-vertex cells, origami sheets and stacked origami blocks can be constructed. Geometry analyses discover two mecha- nisms that will lead to the self-locking of 4-vertex origami cells, sheets, and stacked blocks: in-cell facet-binding and inter-cell facet-binding. These two mechanisms and the predicted self-locking phenomena are verified through 3D simu- lations and prototype experiments. Finally, this paper briefly introduces the unusual mechanical properties caused by the locking of 4-vertex origami structures. The research reported in this paper could foster a new breed of self-locking struc- tures with various engineering applications.

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