Inverse design of 3D reconfigurable curvilinear modular origami structures using geometric and topological reconstructions

Abstract

The recent development of modular origami structures has ushered in an era for active metamaterials with multiple degrees of freedom (multi-DOF). Notably, no systematic inverse design approach for 3D curvilinear modular origami structures has been reported. Moreover, very few modular origami topologies have been studied to design active metamaterials with multi-DOF. Herein, we develop an inverse design method for constructing 3D reconfigurable architected structures — we synthesize modular origami structures whose unit cells can be volumetrically mapped into a prescribed 3D curvilinear shape followed by volumetric shrinkage to construct modules. After modification of the tubular geometry, we search through all the possible geometric and topological combinations of the modular origami structures to attain the target mobility using a topological reconstruction of modules. Our inverse design using geometric and topological reconstructions can provide an effective solution to construct 3D curvilinear reconfigurable structures with multi-DOF. Our work opens a path toward 3D reconfigurable systems based on volumetric inverse design, such as 3D active metamaterials and 3D morphing devices for automotive, aerospace, and biomedical engineering applications.