CEE Seminar - Flexible mechanics of origami and patterned thin sheets

Thin plates are an elegant and versatile design platform that combine strength and efficiency. They appear in stately geodesic domes, workaday corrugated cargo containers and in countless natural settings, from leaves to cellular membranes. In each case, their mechanical response is derived not only from their composition but also from their patterning, such as corrugation or dimpling. Of particular interest are origami-inspired structures, in which precise crease patterns can grant dynamical flexibility as well as strength. I will examine how these patterns give rise to novel functionality, including spatially complex response, topologically protected deformation modes, exotic relationships between in-plane strain and out-of-plane bending and modes that couple the two types of deformation together in surprising ways. This approach will go beyond homogenization methods to identify universal constraints on mechanical response inspired by connections to fundamental physics. These techniques shed new light on the challenges of lightweight, deployable, adaptive, robotic and smart structures.