Lee, T.U., Lu, H., Ma, J., San Ha, N., Gattas, J.M. and Xie, Y.M., 2024. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(40), p.e2409062121. [Link]
Deployable tubular structures, designed for functional expansion, serve a wide range of applications, from flexible pipes to stiff structural elements. These structures, which transform from compact states, are crucial for creating adaptive solutions across engineering and scientific fields. A significant barrier to advancing their performance is balancing expandability with stiffness. Using compliant materials, these structures achieve more flexible transformations than those possible with rigid mechanisms. However, they typically exhibit reduced stiffness when subjected to external pressures (e.g., tube wall loading).
Here, we utilize origami-inspired techniques and internal stiffeners to meet conflicting performance requirements. A self-locking mechanism is proposed, which combines the folding behavior observed in curved-crease origami and elastic shell buckling. This mechanism employs simple shell components, including internal diaphragms that undergo pseudofolding in a confined boundary condition to enable a snap-through transition. We reveal that the deployed tube is self-locked through geometrical interference, creating a braced tubular arrangement. This arrangement gives a direction-dependent structural performance, ranging from elastic response to crushing, thereby offering the potential for programmable structures. We demonstrate that our approach can advance existing deployment mechanisms (e.g., coiled and inflatable systems) and create diverse structural designs (e.g., metamaterials, adaptive structures, cantilevers, and lightweight panels).We anticipate our design to be a starting point to drive technological advancement in real-world deployable tubular structures.
Watch the two videos below. They show the concept and utilization of the proposed tube:
This work has also gained extremely wide media attention:
Forbes: The Prototype: Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Tests Its Big Rocket [Link]
Wired: How origami inspired these flat-pack tube building materials [Link]
RMIT News: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [RMIT Website] [LinkedIn] [Facebook] [Threads] [Twitter]
EurekAlert!: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [Link]
Interesting Engineering: 2-pound foldable tubes hold 165 pounds at ease with origami power [Link]
Ground News: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials - Tech and Science Post [Link]
EcoInventos: Ingenieros australianos inventan sistema tubular inspirado en origami que se puede empaquetar plano y desplegarse en materiales de construcción resistentes: Un panel de 1,3 kg puede soportar hasta 75 kg [Link]
Tech Xplore: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [Link]
Head Topics: Origami-engineered tubes weigh 2 lbs, hold 165 pounds, fold flat for easy use [Link]
World News: Origami-engineered tubes weigh 2 lbs, hold 165 pounds, fold flat for easy use [Link]
World News: New origami inspired system turns flat pack tubes into strong building materials (RMIT - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) [Link]
AZoM.com: Flat-Pack Building Material Revolutionizes Construction [Link]
The Courier-Mail (Print version) (Licensed by Copyright Agency): It's building on origami [Link]
Townsville Bulletin (Print version) (Licensed by Copyright Agency): Building on origami [Link]
The Engineer: Curved-crease origami inspires self-locking flat-packed tubular structures - The Engineer [Link]
Geelong Advertiser (Print version) (Licensed by Copyright Agency): Building on origami [Link]
@AuManufacturing: Flat pack tubes pop up to make building materials [Link]
Australian Manufacturing Magazine: Origami-inspired innovation turns flat materials into robust building components [Link]
Building Connection: Engineers design flat-pack tube ‘origami’ building material [Link]
Innovations Report: New origami-inspired system [Link]
Techstreet Now: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [Link]
News8Plus: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [Link]
Lab Horizons: Flat-Pack packing innovation: is origami going to save us from broken glassware? [Link]
MSN UK: Flat-Pack Building Material Revolutionizes Construction [Link]
Construo: Origami-inspired design turns flat-pack tubes into strong structures [Link]
Manufacturers' Monthly: New system turns tubes into strong building materials [Link]
Build Australia: RMIT engineers develop innovative flat-pack building material [Link]
Inside Construction: Origami-inspired design turns flat-pack tubes into strong structures [Link]
Eureka: RMIT University engineers develops new system for building materials [Link]
...... many.
RMIT Unversity home page:
Forbes:
Figures:
Movies:
Photos:
Comments