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A General Simulation Method for Complex Deformation of Irregular-Shaped Origami Configurations

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Abstract

Most existing treatments for origami-folding simulations have focused on regular-shaped configurations. This article aims to introduce a general strategy for simulating and analyzing the deformation process of irregular shapes by means of computational capabilities nowadays. To better simulate origami deformation with folding orders, the concept of plane follow-up is introduced to achieve automated computer simulation of complex folding patterns, thereby avoiding intersection and penetration between planes. Based on the evaluation criteria such as the lowest storage energy with tightening and the fastest pace from tightening to unfolding, the optimal crease distribution patterns for four irregular (‘N’-, ‘T’-, ‘O’-, and ‘P’-shaped) origami configurations are then presented under five candidates. When the dimensions of the origami are fixed, it is discovered that simpler folding patterns lead to faster deformation of the origami configuration. When the folding complexity is fixed, higher strain energy results in more rapid origami expansion.

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Data Availability

The data and material used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable requests.

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Funding

The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China 11821202 (Xu Guo), the National Key Research and Development Plan 2020YFB1709401 (Xu Guo), and the Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program XLYC2001003 (Xu Guo).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Department of Engineering Mechanics, International Research Center for Computational Mechanics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116023, China

    Zhaochen Dong, Yichao Zhu & Xu Guo

Authors
  1. Zhaochen Dong
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  2. Yichao Zhu
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  3. Xu Guo
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Contributions

ZD, YZ, and XG designed the study; ZD performed the research and conducted experiments; ZD drafted the article; all authors contributed to the revisions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xu Guo.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Consent for publication has been obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Dong, Z., Zhu, Y. & Guo, X. A General Simulation Method for Complex Deformation of Irregular-Shaped Origami Configurations. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 37, 90–98 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-023-00443-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-023-00443-7

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