Metamaterials can now be made using kirigami methods. These building blocks can then be reconfigured to create complex and dynamic structures. These structures can be assembled and disassembled easily because they are modular.
Jie Yin is the paper’s corresponding author and an associate professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.
Researchers believe these 3D metamaterials can be used for lightweight building materials, modular robotics components, and waveguiding with acoustic metamaterials.
Kirigami, a type of origami, involves folding and cutting paper. Kirigami can be done with two-dimensional materials like paper. However, Yin and his associates have applied the principles to kirigami for three-dimensional materials cut into connected cubicles.
The researchers used eight connected cardboard cubes open on both sides to model their new approach. Each unit of eight connected cubes can be considered a building block. These building blocks can be arranged in various ways depending on their connection.
Yin suggests that these kirigami units can be considered flexible building blocks combined to create larger structures with different mechanical characteristics. The larger systems can be disassembled so users can assemble them into new forms.
The researchers designed more than 12 reconfigurable building blocks to demonstrate the concept’s utility. Each block comprised eight connected paper cubes that could be reconfigured into eight shapes. The video shows how each unit can be reconfigured into various structures and how these structures could then be assembled into larger systems. It also shows how large networks can be disassembled into the reconfigurable block.
The structure’s behavior will vary depending on how the blocks are placed in the more extensive system. This allows you to adjust the mechanical properties of each building block. A single building block can be folded into a structure that can easily be compressed or refolded to a shape that is more capable of supporting a substantial load.
“The ability to disassemble and reconfigure 3D metamaterials allows users to modify the mechanical properties of a structural structure to accomplish different tasks,” Yin explains. Fold it one way to compress it, then fold it the other way to allow lateral movement. Finally, fold it three ways to make it stiffer or increase strength.
Yin states that the work was aimed at demonstrating the basic concept. “Our next step will be to show applications for the concept.”
