Kinematic and Static Design of Rigid Origami Structures: Application to Modular Yoshimura Patterns

Abstract

The design of origami structures typically requires the folding/deployment kinematics to be solved and the internal forces induced by applied loads to be determined. The case of rigid origami structures is considered here by adopting an extended panel–hinge model, in which all panels are rigid and are connected by door hinges and sliding hinges. The differences between currently available stick-and-spring models, suitable for the analysis of thin origami structures, and panel–hinge models, suitable for treating the case of thick origami structures, are highlighted. After reviewing basic results which aid in the determination of the number of independent internal mechanisms and self-stress states of rigid origami structures, a numerical method to perform the kinematic and static analysis is described, considering the case of a Yoshimura pattern as a representative application example. Then, a design proposal to obtain modular transformable origami pavilions with Yoshimura pattern is presented, informed by the numerical results obtained for one pavilion module. Several modular pavilions are assembled and simulated in Grasshopper with Kangaroo Physics, and the construction system is studied by combining parametric modeling and laser cutting.