Taking inspiration from origami/kirigami forms, researchers describe a new set of motifs for creating lightweight, strong, and foldable structures using soft materials. These kirigami structures can support 14,000 times their weight and, because they don't require adhesives or fasteners, can easily be flattened and refolded. Published in Physical Review X, the work was conducted by visiting graduate student Xinyu Wang and professor Randall Kamien of the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with Simon Guest from the University of Cambridge. Wang showed Kamien a new design for a kirigami triangle that had tilted walls. While a single triangle wasn't particularly strong on its own, the researchers noticed that when several were arranged in a repetitive design, the force they could support was much greater than expected.
To figure out what made this geometry so resilient, Wang made several versions of different "soft" materials, including paper, copper, and plastic. She also made versions where the cut flaps were taped, cut, or damaged. Using industry-grade tension and compression testing equipment at the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, the scientists found that the geometric structure could support 14,000 times its own weight. The tilted, triangular design was strongest when the flaps were undamaged and untapped, and it was also stronger than the same design with vertical walls.
The researchers realized that two deviations from the group's typical kirigami rules were key to the structure's strength:
This paper is yet another example of how kirigami can be used as a "tool" for scientists and engineers, this time for creating strong, rigid objects out of soft materials. "We figured out how to use materials that can bend and stretch, and we can actually strengthen these materials," says Wang. One possible application could be to make inexpensive, lightweight, and deployable structures.
"There were things about this study that are totally outside the scope of what a physicist would know," says Kamien.
Original/Full Article (with images) here: https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-kirigami-thousands-weight.html
To figure out what made this geometry so resilient, Wang made several versions of different "soft" materials, including paper, copper, and plastic. She also made versions where the cut flaps were taped, cut, or damaged. Using industry-grade tension and compression testing equipment at the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, the scientists found that the geometric structure could support 14,000 times its own weight. The tilted, triangular design was strongest when the flaps were undamaged and untapped, and it was also stronger than the same design with vertical walls.
The researchers realized that two deviations from the group's typical kirigami rules were key to the structure's strength:
- When the walls of the triangles are angled, any force applied to the top can be translated into horizontal compression within the center of the design.
- They also found that the paper-to-paper overlap from leaving the cut flaps in place allowed the triangles to press up against their neighbors, which helped distribute the vertical load.
This paper is yet another example of how kirigami can be used as a "tool" for scientists and engineers, this time for creating strong, rigid objects out of soft materials. "We figured out how to use materials that can bend and stretch, and we can actually strengthen these materials," says Wang. One possible application could be to make inexpensive, lightweight, and deployable structures.
"There were things about this study that are totally outside the scope of what a physicist would know," says Kamien.
Original/Full Article (with images) here: https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-kirigami-thousands-weight.html
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