Regular Folding Pattern for Deployable Nonaxisymmetric Tubes1

Abstract

This paper presents two techniques for modeling the folding patterns of deployable nonaxisymmetric tubes using regular arrangement of the fold lines and three different fundamental folding designs, namely, Miura folding, bellows folding, and torsional bucklingbased folding. The first modeling technique involves the cutting and removal of unnecessary parts from the original folding pattern of the corresponding straight cylinder, and the second technique involves the design of additional fold lines for folding the unnecessary parts into the tube without being cut. The applicability and constraints of each folding design and modeling technique are discussed and summarized.