Springs, squeegees and soda straws function with a common property — they are rigid in one direction and flexible in another. Structures like these, with properties that vary across dimensions, have played critical roles in human technology from the longbow to the booster rocket.
Now, researchers have drawn inspiration from the art of origami to create programmable surfaces that allow engineers to alter physical properties of a uniform substance across a range of directions. In an article published in the Oct. 26 issue of the journal Advanced Materials, the researchers described structures that are also programmable, so dimensions and corresponding properties can shift as needed. The researchers hope that designers will be able to apply the techniques to medical devices, architecture, robotics and aerospace.
"We have an almost infinite number of adjustments, which provide a rich design space," said Glaucio Paulino, the Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Engineering and one of the principal researchers. Paulino, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, worked with colleagues from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Peking University, the University of Tokyo and the University of Trento on the project.
