Origami Morphing Surfaces with Arrayed Quasi-Rigid-Foldable Polyhedrons.

Abstract

Artificial morphing surfaces, inspired by the high adaptability of biological tissues, have emerged as a significant area of research in recent years. However, the practical applications of these surfaces, constructed from soft materials, are considerably limited due to their low shear stiffness. Rigid-foldable cylinders are anisotropic structures that exhibit high adaptability and shear stiffness. Thus, they have the potential to address this issue. However, changes in shape and area at both ends during folding can lead to collisions or gaps on the morphing surface. Here, a quasi-rigid-foldable (QRF) rate is first introduced to quantify the rigid-foldability of a foldable structure and validate it through experiments. More importantly, a QRF polyhedron is then proposed, which is not only notably anisotropic, similar to a rigid-foldable cylinder, but also exhibits a zero-Poisson's ratio property, making it suitable for arraying as morphing surfaces without any collisions or gaps. Such surfaces have a myriad of applications, including modulating electromagnetic waves, gripping fragile objects, and serving as soles for climbing robots.