Multistable origami honeycomb

Increasing energy and space utilization efficiency is crucial for lightweight shape-reconfigurable materials/structures that require tunable functions and multiple applications. Mechanical multistable origami/kirigami structures can improve the controlling stability and energy utilization efficiency of shape-reconfiguration. However, their scalability in 3-dimensinal (3D) space by tilling or tessellating remains largely unexplored. Inspired by origami, we propose a class of novel multistable shape-reconfigurable honeycombs that are lightweight, scalable in 3D space and have flexible and easy designability. It is architected by periodically arranged truncated diamond-shaped units composed of crease-connected panels. Each unit has two stable states, i.e., the deployed state and collapsed state, which can switch from each other reversely and repeatedly. Firstly, the bistability and mechanical tunability of the unit are verified by experiments. Then a simplified rod-hinge model for investigating the mechanical behavior of the unit is established and validated numerically. Based on this simplified rod-hinge model, the effects of edge number and geometric parameters of the unit on its mechanical behaviors are studied. This novel design and its mechanical model may pave a new way for the design and analysis of lightweight shape-reconfigurable materials/structures.