Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060

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Composites Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech

Origami-based deployable structures made of carbon fiber reinforced

polymer composites
Antonio Alessandro Deleo a ,1 , James O’Neil a ,1 , Hiromi Yasuda a,b , Marco Salviato a ,∗,
Jinkyu Yang a ,∗
a Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
b Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Deployable structures are typically made of thin membranes and slender elements, which often require foldable
Composite origami – yet stiff – mechanical properties. The use of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites for such
A. polymer-matrix composites (PMCs) deployable structures has been limited due to the their rigid and unfoldable nature in general. Here, we
A. Flexible composites
design, fabricate, and demonstrate foldable – yet stiff – structures made of CFRP composites. To achieve
this, we leverage origami design principles based on the Tachi-Miura-Polyhedron (TMP) architecture. To
manufacture TMP structures, we devise a unique vacuum-bag-only composite fabrication method by using
compliant urethane epoxies impregnated into woven glass fiber layers on which pre-made CFRP tiles are
positioned. We show the resulting structures feature self-deployability, high compactness, and deterministic
force–displacement characterization. Potential applications of the proposed composite origami are abundant,
including deployable habitats for space exploration and disaster relief, deployable solar arrays and antennas,
actively-controlled aerodynamic surfaces, and impact mitigation structures.

1. Introduction theoretically possible to design simultaneously foldable and stiff struc-

Deployable structures are capable of modifying their footprint and/
or volume in a controlled manner. They are highly demanded for
numerous engineering applications, such as solar arrays and sails in
space [1–3], disaster relief structures [4], medical devices [5], bio-
inspired mechanisms, and architectures [6–8]. Often times, these de-
ployable structures require features such as light weight, structural stiff-
ness/strength, and multi-functional properties. Particularly, designing
foldable (during shape transition) – yet stiff (before/after deployment)
– structures represents a particularly important milestone for their en-
gineering applications. However, realizing these seemingly conflicting
characteristics can be a challenging task in conventional deployable
architectures.
To address this challenge, origami has been employed as a possi-
ble design solution. Originally considered as an ancient art of paper
folding, origami has widened its engineering applications significantly
in recent decades. Examples include robotics [9,10], sun-shields for
telescopes [11], and architectures [12]. Particularly, for the purpose
of designing deployable structures, origami has been adopted in solar
sails [13], foldable antennas [14], and medical stents [15]. While it is
tures by using origami principles [16–18], their prototypes are mostly
based on non-structural materials (e.g., thin paper and plastic films),
and their fabrication into a rugged form remains highly challenging to
date. This is mainly due to the difficulty in implementing repeatable
folding lines, so-called crease lines, in the platform of rigid materials.
Previous research has attempted to address this challenge in various
ways. For example, Schenk et al. have demonstrated the fabrication
of metallic Miura-Ori sheets using etched stainless steel sheets and
a vacuum bag [19]. Similarly, prototypes of origami-based structures
have been fabricated using mechanical hinges [20], sandwich struc-
tures [21,22], and 3D printers [23]. While each approach offers its
unique advantages and disadvantages, these methods tend to suffer
from the lack of foldability, stiffness, lightweight, and/or compactness
when fabricated into deployable origami configurations.
In this manuscript, we propose a novel solution to this challenge
by fabricating deployable origami structures made of carbon fiber rein-
forced polymer (CFRP) composites. These materials are stiff and strong,
and are relatively lightweight compared to metals. One outstanding
problem is the realization of crease lines in the CFRP architecture. We

∗ Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: salviato@aa.washington.edu (M. Salviato), jkyang@aa.washington.edu (J. Yang).
1
Equally contributing author.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2020.108060
Received 3 September 2019; Received in revised form 20 December 2019; Accepted 6 February 2020
Available online 10 February 2020
0266-3538/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.A. Deleo et al.
Fig. 1. Geometrical parameters of the TMP. (a) 3D view of a TMP unit cell, which shows its height, 𝐻. (b) The geometry of Miura-Ori unit cells that make up a TMP structure.
(c) Fold patterns of the front and back sheets that compose the TMP in (a) as well as the geometry that defines the TMP layer. Also present are the bonding areas needed to
consolidate both sides of the TMP unit cell. (d) The geometric parameters needed to derive the force–displacement relationship.
address this problem by utilizing glass fibers infused with a urethane-
based resin to act as compliant hinges, while stiff CFRP tiles serve
as the facets of our origami structures. This technique offers a rel-
atively simple method to manufacture composite origami, since we
only require a hot press and vacuum-bagging materials to construct
our specimens. Although there has been much research on flexible
composites for many applications, e.g., deployable structures [24–29],
what separates our work from previous flexible composite approaches
is that we can fabricate foldable-yet-stiff deployable composite origami
structures in a strictly planar surface and we do not require the use of
cuts or perforations in the creases. Also, unlike conventional bendable
composites, our fabrication method offers a sharp-cornered bending
mechanism and a consistent folding repeatability, which is ideal for
origami-based deployable architectures.
As a proof of concept for our manufacturing process, we construct
the Tachi-Miura Polyhedron (TMP) [30–33]. This structure is rigid fold-
able, implying that deformation occurs only along the creases during
folding while the origami facets remain flat. TMP is also a volumetric
origami, capable of changing its shape from one flat stage to another
flat stage. We will show that when the origami is fabricated using
the proposed manufacturing process, it is self-deployable by leveraging
the elastic potential energy stored in their folds. This can serve as
the physical mechanism for controllable deployment. The verification
will include a compression test as well as a study on the geometrical
deformations and elastic responses of the structure.
The rest of the manuscript is composed as follows: the theoretical
background of the TMP will be summarized in Section 2. An overview
of our manufacturing process is given in Section 3. Experimental pro-
cedures for force–displacement characterization and deployability are
described in Section 4. We discuss our experimental results in Section 5.
Possible applications for our TMP specimens detailed in Section 6.
Finally, we give some concluding remarks in Section 7.
2. Kinematics of Tachi-Miura polyhedron origami
Here we provide a brief overview of the kinematics of the TMP [31–
33]. Fig. 1 illustrates the geometry of the TMP. Fig. 1a shows the height,
𝐻, of a TMP unit cell, defined as the distance between the top and
2
Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060
bottom cross-sections of the TMP. A TMP architecture can contain any
number of layers. An example is provided in Fig. 1a which shows a TMP
composed of two layers. Fig. 1b represents the Miura-Ori unit cell [30]
– corresponding to the shaded region of the TMP in Fig. 1a – which
composes a quarter of the TMP structure. As the TMP is a derivation
of the Miura-Ori fold pattern, it can be idealized as a rigid-foldable
origami structure. In Fig. 1b, the major crease line fold angle 𝜃𝑀 and
the minor crease line fold angle 𝜃𝑆 can be related by the angle 𝜃𝐺 and
the panel tilt angle 𝛼 by means of the following equations:
tan(𝜃𝐺 ) = tan(𝛼) sin(𝜃𝑀 ), (1)
sin(𝜃𝐺 ) = sin(𝛼) sin(𝜃𝑆 ). (2)
Fig. 1c shows the layer height, 𝑑, and the lengths 𝑚 and 𝑙. 𝑙 is defined
as the distance between the center of the TMP layer to the midpoint
of the nearest diagonal line segment labeled as ‘‘c’’ in the figure. This
figure also illustrates the directionality of the mountain and valley folds
in order to generate TMP structures. The shaded region of the ‘‘Front’’
side corresponds to the shaded region of Fig. 1a. The areas patterned
with horizontal lines represent the regions where adhesive needs to be
applied in order to bond two sides of the TMP unit cell together.
Thanks to the foregoing equations and definitions, we only require
the four parameters (𝛼, 𝑑, 𝑚, and 𝑙) to describe the geometrical config-
uration of the TMP layer. Likewise, we only need 𝜃𝑀 in order to fully
define the posture of the TMP. Accordingly, the TMP origami can be
treated essentially as a one degree of freedom structure with the height
of the TMP (𝐻) and the major crease angle (𝜃𝑀 ) being related by the
following equation:
𝐻
cos(𝜃𝑀 ) = , (3)
𝑁𝑑
where 𝑁 is the number of layers that make up the TMP structure
(Fig. 1d).
Now let us consider the folding behavior of the TMP architecture.
From Fig. 1d, we define 𝐻0 to be the initial height of the structure
(i.e., 𝐻0 is the zero-energy height when the TMP structure is under
no compression or tension). Upon the application of force 𝐹 and the
corresponding compressive displacement 𝑢, the height of the TMP can
A.A. Deleo et al.
Fig. 2. (a) Variation of volume of the TMP as a function of the major crease-line fold angle. (b) Normalized force–displacement ratio for a TMP with 𝐾𝑆 ∕𝐾𝑀 = 1 and 𝜃𝑀0 = 0.01◦ .
The inset of (b) provides more information on the peak of the normalized force–displacement curve. Both plots correspond to a TMP with the following geometry: 𝑁 = 3, 𝛼 = 45◦ ,
and 𝑑 = 𝑙 = 𝑚 = 40 mm.
be expressed as:
𝐻 = 𝐻0 − 𝑢.
Given 𝜃𝑀 , the cross-sectional area of the TMP does not change along
the 𝑍-axis shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the volume of a TMP configuration
can be calculated as follows:
𝑉 = 𝐴𝐻,
where 𝐴 is the cross-sectional area of the TMP.
Fig. 2a is a plot of the volume of a TMP structure (with configuration
𝑁 = 3, 𝛼 = 45◦ , and 𝑑 = 𝑙 = 𝑚 = 40 mm) as the major fold angle
of the TMP (𝜃𝑀 ) is varied. The volume is normalized by maximum
volume of the structure. In the case of the configuration in Fig. 2a,
the maximum volume is achieved at a major fold angle of 30.36◦ . It is
worth mentioning that this plot is purely theoretical and is based on
a zero-thickness assumption. Due to this assumption, the TMP has no
volume when it is flat-folded. It is interesting to note that the TMP can
exhibit a near-linear change of its volume from either flat configuration.
This smooth volume change with the major fold angle makes the TMP
origami architecture particularly attractive for applications requiring
an accurate and highly-controllable deployment.
The use of TMP origami as deployable structures requires the un-
derstanding of the relation between the force (𝐹 ) required to fold the
structure and the displacement (𝑢) of the structure. This expression
can be obtained in closed-form assuming that (i) the thickness of the
composite facets can be neglected, (ii) the facets contribute to the
structure kinematics by rigid motions only (negligible deformation),
and (iii) the behavior of the creases is elastic and can be captured by
equivalent torsional springs. Then, using the principle of virtual work,
the following expression can be derived [32]:
[ ]
32 𝑁 −1 cos3 (𝜃𝐺 ) cos(𝜃𝑀 )
𝐹 = 𝐾𝑀 (𝜃𝑀 − 𝜃𝑀0 ) + 𝐾𝑆 (𝜃𝑆 − 𝜃𝑆0 ) ,
𝑑 sin(𝜃𝑀 ) 𝑁 cos(𝛼) cos(𝜃𝑆 )
where 𝜃𝑀0 and 𝜃𝑆0 are the major and minor crease line fold angles in
the initial configuration of the TMP, 𝜃𝑀 and 𝜃𝑆 are the major and minor
crease line fold angles in the deformed configuration, and 𝐾𝑀 and 𝐾𝑆
are the major and minor crease torsional spring constants respectively.
Please revisit Fig. 1b for the distinction between major and minor
crease lines that correspond to horizontal and slanted creases in Fig. 1c.
Fig. 2b shows the evolution of the normalized folding force, 𝐹 𝑑∕𝐾𝑀 ,
as a function of the normalized displacement, 𝑢∕𝐻0 . It is interesting
to note that, for this particular configuration, the normalized force
increases steeply but smoothly with the normalized displacement until
Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060
it reaches a local maximum for 𝑢∕𝐻0 ≈ 0.0011. This is illustrated in the
inset of Fig. 2b. Then, the structure exhibits a relatively mild softening
(4) up to 𝑢∕𝐻0 ≈ 0.55 followed by hardening until the TMP is completely
folded.
As deformation occurs only along the creases and the creases are
treated as torsional springs, we can calculate the potential energy, 𝑈 ,
of the structure by tracking the deformation of the major and minor
(5) creases:
1 1
𝑈 = 𝑁𝑀 𝐾𝑀 (𝜃𝑀 − 𝜃𝑀0 )2 + 𝑁𝑆 𝐾𝑆 (𝜃𝑆 − 𝜃𝑆0 )2 . (7)
2 2
𝑁𝑀 and 𝑁𝑆 are the number of major creases and the number of minor
creases respectively. Careful bookkeeping allows us to calculate these
values as follows [32]:
𝑁𝑀 = 8(𝑁 − 1), (8)
𝑁𝑆 = 8𝑁. (9)
This energy consideration will be revisited to explain self-deployability
of the TMP in a later section.
3. Manufacturing
Now we move to describing the fabrication of composite TMP
prototypes by leveraging a novel manufacturing technology combining
Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) and the use of flexible urethane-matrix com-
posites for the creases. The VBO technique not only guarantees high
mechanical performance and limited volume fraction of voids [34,35],
it is also cost-effective since it avoids the need for expensive autoclaves
which increase the installation costs and reduce the overall productiv-
ity [36]. At the same time, this method is also very flexible since several
different curing cycles can be obtained, and therefore various types of
fibers can be utilized. Depending on the resin, the specimens can be
cured for longer periods of time at ambient temperature, or for much
shorter ones, using a ventilated oven.
(6) As shown in Fig. 3, which provides a schematic of the manufac-
turing process, VBO involves the use of pre-impregnated plies instead
of dry fibers. In contrast to Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding
(VARTM), the vacuum is used only to supply pressure and not to allow
the resin to flow through the fibers. The specimen to be cured needs
to be bagged using a hard surface, generally a metal plate or a garolite
plate whose working area is delimited by a yellow bagging tape. In
order not to let the resin stick permanently after curing to the hard
surface, either a chemical release agent, a mechanical release agent
such as a peel-ply or Teflon sheet or a combination of the two is used.
Subsequently, the TMP origami is laid down and another layer of peel-
ply or Teflon is deposited on top. Finally, the vacuum fitting is added in
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A.A. Deleo et al. Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060

Fig. 3. (Top Left) Layup schematic and close-up example of a TMP crest. The foldable hinge is obtained by having two rigid CFRP facets traditionally cured squeezing a single
dry layer of fiberglass impregnated with a very flexible urethane epoxy Shore 30A. (Top Right) Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) schematic. The whole manufacturing process starts with a
clean metal (or garolite) plate set up with bagging tape and vacuum ports. A layer of Teflon is added at the bottom to allow for quick and safe release of the specimen made out
of CFRP and GFRP with urethane. The sandwich TMP structure is covered again with another layer of Teflon and covered with breather and vacuum rated plastic bag. (Bottom)
Step-by-step procedure. (a) First layer of CFRP facets is laid down following TMP shape. (b) The bagging tape and vacuum port are prepared. (c) The middle fiberglass layer is
deposited, covered by the top CFRP facets and the urethane resin is infused. The bag is sealed and the air is pulled out of the system. (d) Final specimen after de-bagging and
post-curing. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

a region close to the TMP on top of a double layer of breather, and the
whole plate is bagged using a vacuum-rated plastic bag. A modular 4S
vacuum system by Vacmobiles [37] has been used for all the prototypes
manufactured. The system also provides an absolute pressure gauge
and a VPE ultrasonic leak detector which helped to further improve
the manufacturing quality of the specimens.
The TMP origami is manufactured by using Carbon Toray T700
plain weave for the facets which are cured using the traditional hot-
press method. The curing cycle is one hour ramp to 149 ◦ C (300 ◦ F)
and two hours soak with a constant pressure of 689 kPa (100 psi).
The cured facets had the following mechanical properties: 𝐸1 = 𝐸2 =
85 GPa, a shear modulus of 𝐺12 = 5 GPa, and a Poisson’s ratio of 𝜈12 =
0.1 [38]. The fiber volume fraction of the facets was around 0.68 as per
manufacturing specification sheet. For the crests, we use a Fiberglass
orca cloth plain weave provided by Fiberlay Inc. [39]. To guarantee the
desired flexibility and elasticity of the crests, a Sharkthane Flex Pro 30–
20 urethane epoxy was used [40]. The system of glass fiber reinforced
polymer (GFRP) and urethane epoxy yielded the following mechanical
properties: 𝐸1 = 𝐸2 = 1.93 GPa, a shear modulus of 𝐺12 = 3.40 MPa,
and a Poisson’s ratio of 𝜈12 = 0.21 with an observed fiber volume frac-
tion between 0.5 and 0.6 [41]. The urethane resin was cured at room
temperature and no experiments nor tests were performed at higher
temperature where the glass transition temperature property might
have played a key role in mechanical behavior. Future applications
and studies might involve the analyses of such temperature-dependent
parameters.
Fig. 3a–d shows the main steps of the manufacturing process. Ini-
tially, one side of the CFRP facets is laid down using wood and acrylic
laser-cut stencils to assure their proper location (Fig. 3a). As it will be
discussed in the results section, proper alignment of the facets is critical
for producing optimal specimens as a misalignment can produce non-
uniform bending stiffness along creases. After this step, the urethane
epoxy is mixed using the manufacturer recommended ratio and a thin
layer is initially deposited onto the inner side of the CFRP. Once it is
spread uniformly, a single layer of dry satin weave glass fiber from
Fiberlay [39] is laid down and another layer of urethane epoxy is
poured to be absorbed by the fibers. Once the fibers are properly wet,
the final side of the CFRP facets is laid down on top of the ones already
deposited as shown in Fig. 3c. The whole laminate is then properly
bagged and leak-tested before curing. Once the TMP is cured, it is
properly checked for air pockets since the viscosity of the urethane
epoxy is much higher than a classic conventional epoxy. The final
composite origami structure consists of two (top and bottom) pre-cured
CFRP facets sandwiched together with the urethane-impregnated GFRP
mid-layer. This makes it a 3-ply structure. The GFRP is exposed only at
the location of the crests.
A typical example of a composite TMP laminate after curing and de-
bagging is shown in Fig. 3d. Any additional glass fiber not sandwiched
between the facets is discarded from the laminate. We can now either
choose to cut through the laminate along major crease-lines in order to
create unit cells with a smaller number of layers or we can keep all of
the layers and manufacture a new laminate with the same number of
layers. Either way, we bond two fabricated sheets (i.e., front and back
parts as described in Fig. 1c) using high-strength 3M VHBTM Adhesive
Transfer Tape applied along bonding regions also seen in the figure.
This tape is packaged so that there is a backing on one side. We apply
high pressure using a hot press (heat is turned off) onto the laminates
to ensure that the tape is distributed evenly when the backing of the
tape is peeled off. Finally, both sides of the TMP are lined up and
consolidated together at the bonding regions to form a unit cell.

4
A.A. Deleo et al.
Fig. 4. Experimental apparatus utilized for characterizing the force–displacement response of the composite TMP specimens.
Fig. 5. Deployment apparatus for the TMP. (a) Overview of method for securing the TMP in the initial/stored configuration using nylon string. (b) A nylon string is used in
conjunction with bolts to hold TMP at a fixed 𝜃𝑀 .
4. Methodology
4.1. Force–displacement characterization
In this paper, we characterize the force–displacement behavior of a
TMP unit cell manufactured using our process described in the previous
section. We run compression tests on the specimen and gather force and
displacement data. The experimental apparatus for these compression
tests is described in Fig. 4. A Kyowa LUX-B-50N load cell (max force
50N) is attached to a load frame to collect the force data. Since the
compliance of the TMP structure is significantly larger than the one of
the load-frame, the cross-head displacement of the machine is used for
the experimental characterization of the displacement of the specimen.
In this study we choose the TMP configuration of 𝛼 = 45◦ and
𝑑 = 𝑙 = 𝑚 = 40 mm. We construct the prototype to have three layers
(𝑁 = 3). The TMP is compressed by an acrylic plate that is coated
with Teflon tape while it rests on another Teflon-coated acrylic plate.
The edges of the TMP that make contact with these plates also have
Teflon coatings. The reason for using Teflon is to reduce the effects of
frictional forces in the system. In our experiments, the composite TMP
specimen is pre-compressed about 10 mm from its flat-unfolded state
before the compression tests begin. This is because the TMP specimen
could not stand by itself in the test frame when they are in the flat-
unfolded state. This is also to facilitate the volumetric folding motions
of the TMP specimens without planar buckling that can happen in its
flat-folded state.
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Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060
4.2. Deployment
To verify the deployability of the composite TMP, an apparatus is
prepared that compresses and secures the TMP in place with nylon
strings (Fig. 5a). The TMP is secured at a major crease-line angle of
𝜃𝑀 = 78◦ . When the TMP is compressed, there is elastic potential
energy stored in the creases that will allow the TMP to be self-deployed.
Therefore, to keep the TMP in the folded state, we use a nylon string
that is tied around the TMP to secure it as shown in Fig. 5a. Additional
nylon string is used in the front and back of the TMP in order to limit
non-axial movement. This includes rotation along the axial direction of
the TMP and any translational shifting along the plate as well as any
loss of contact between the bottom of the TMP and the acrylic plate
due to the elastic nature of the creases and the TMP’s relatively low
mass. To reduce the friction during deployment, the acrylic plate the
TMP rests on is coated with Teflon tape.
For the controlled deployment motions, we also need to set not only
the initial folded, but also the final unfolded posture of the TMP. As
shown in Fig. 5b, the nylon string is used again inside the TMP speci-
men to hold it at a given 𝜃𝑀 . We install a constant-length nylon string
that is held in place by bolts installed in the center of the trapezoidal
facets. For our deployment tests, we choose the final unfolded angle of
𝜃𝑀 = 30.5◦ . This angle is close to the one (30.36◦ ) that results in the
TMP’s maximum volume state based on Fig. 2a.
To deploy the specimen, we cut the external nylon string manually
using wire cutters. Potentially, an electrical system, e.g., nichrome-
wire deployment system used for CubeSats [42], could be utilized for
a controllable deployment. To monitor the deployment motions of the
A.A. Deleo et al.
Fig. 6. Force–displacement results for the composite TMP specimen in Fig. 4 and detailed in Section 4.1. The blue curve and the colored area represents the mean of the experiments
and the standard deviation, respectively, of the experimental trials. The red curve is fitted to this data based on the theoretical force–displacement relationship outlined in Section 2.
The quality of the curve fit as well as the spring constants and initial fold angle are given in the figure. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
system, we use a high speed camera (Chronos 1.4 high-speed camera)
and capture video at 1500 frames per second.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Force-displacement characterization
Fig. 6 shows the force–displacement results of the composite TMP
specimen. This specimen is compressed five times, and the averaged
empirical data is represented by the blue curve. The colored area
around the blue curve represents the standard deviation of the ex-
periments. The experimental data obtained shows a decrease in force
as the displacement is increased (i.e., negative stiffness). As we fur-
ther increase the compressive displacement, we witness a nearly zero
stiffness. This trend implies that the folding motions of the TMP can
be controlled in a smooth manner without necessitating kinematically
singular mechanisms.
Now we compare the empirical data with the analytical model
discussed in Section 2. To this end, we first need to identify the spring
constants of our creases (i.e., 𝐾𝑀 and 𝐾𝑆 for major and minor crease
lines) by fitting the theoretical force–displacement relationship given in
Eq. (6) with the measured force–displacement data. Additionally, 𝜃𝑀0
is also used as a fitting parameter since the specimen is nearly flat-
unfolded when no compression is applied and, depending on how one
handles the specimen, it is difficult to measure what the exact initial
major crease-line fold angle is. We used photographs of the side of
the TMP in order to get an estimate of the angle for our curve fitting
analysis. We must note that we cannot fit the data with 𝜃𝑀0 = 0◦
because the force reaches singularity when this occurs (see Eq. (6)).
Based on the curve-fitting, the torsional spring values are identified
to be 𝐾𝑀 = 3.10 Nmm rad
and 𝐾𝑆 = 2.91 Nmm rad
. The spring constant of
the major creases being about 10% larger than the spring constant of
the minor creases can be explained by the different fiber orientation
relative to the crease line. In fact, the major crease lines have fibers
oriented perpendicular to the edges of the facets whereas the minor
creases have fibers oriented at 45◦ in both directions (see Fig. 1c where
major (minor) creases are shown in horizontal (slanted) orientations).
The spring constants can be modified by changing the fiber direction
and/or by selecting a different urethane or hyperelastic material for
the matrix of the creases. For the initial folding angle, we obtain 𝜃𝑀 =
0.01◦ as the best fit value. This is plausible since the zero-energy state
of our prototype is a nearly flat state.
6
Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060
The analytical curve based on the aforementioned parameters is
shown in Fig. 6. We observe satisfactory agreement between the analyt-
ical (red curve) and empirical (blue) results (𝑅2 of 0.960). Thus, we find
our rigid origami model from Section 2 captures the kinematic motions
of the TMP successfully. The minor discrepancy between the analytical
and experimental results could be due to manufacturing defects and
any misalignments in the facets, and the finite-thickness effect of the
TMP prototype. Also, we see that at the beginning of compression, the
variance of the force is greater than at the end of compression. This
behavior is a direct result of the TMP having to initially overcome the
friction and any minor instability at the beginning of the experiment.
We also point out that our experiments could not capture the critical
peak force as predicted by the analytical curve. This is because we
needed to impose about 10 mm pre-compression to the TMP for the
reasons described in Section 4.1. To capture this critical point, the
manufacturing process needs to be improved to address any issues of
instability and also to reduce friction.
Interestingly, based on the force–displacement plot from Fig. 6,
although it will require about 6 N of force to begin folding the TMP unit
cell from its flat-unfolded state, we do not have to apply this same force
to keep the prototype folded. The prototype needs less than 5 N in order
to stay folded. Additionally, the zero-stiffness near the initial stored
configuration (max compression) is useful for deployment purposes as
the effort needed to compress the specimen to storage will decrease
with displacement.
5.2. Deployment
The results of deployment tests are shown in Fig. 7a. As can be seen
in this figure, the TMP prototype exhibits smooth deployment from its
initial folded configuration due to the robust and repeatedly foldable
creases. When released from compression, the TMP is relatively quick
to expand to its minimum 𝜃𝑀 configuration. As can be seen, it takes the
specimen around 13 ms to deploy to this configuration. The change
in height of the specimen during deployment is around 78 mm. This
means specimen deployed to its maximum volume at a speed of about
6 m/s assuming the speed is constant. Since the initial configuration
has a 𝜃𝑀 = 78◦ , based on Fig. 2a, the normalized volume is 0.233. If
the max volume configuration is assumed to have a normalized volume
of 1 for simplicity, this means the change in volume is around 300%
compared to the initial configuration.
A.A. Deleo et al.
Fig. 7. (a) A time-lapse of the deployment of the composite TMP specimen as it is released from its initial/stored configuration. As shown, this particular prototype can be
smoothly deployed in approximately 13 ms. (b) The energy landscape of a TMP without finite creases with the same spring constants. The lines are placed such that the 𝑢∕ℎ0 of
a TMP without finite creases is the same as the manufactured TMP during deployment.
Fig. 7b depicts the potential energy of a TMP that does not have
finite creases like the manufactured prototype but has the configuration
𝛼 = 45◦ , 𝑑 = 𝑙 = 𝑚 = 40 mm, and 𝑁 = 3. The experimentally
determined spring constants from Section 4 were used to generate
the plot. In the figure, the initial and deployed configurations are
marked. The normalized displacement for these configurations are the
same for both the equivalent TMP without finite creases and for the
manufactured TMP during deployment. From the initial configuration
to the deployed configuration, there is a significant release of energy
(71% drop in energy). This deployment can be controlled if the TMP is
constrained as was ours.
6. Applications
Since we can configure the geometry of the deployable TMP struc-
tures and control their deployment, these structures can be utilized
in a variety of engineering applications. One possible application for
this structure is that of a disaster relief shelter. A TMP structure can
be deployed to its maximum volume state or a state where its cross-
sectional area is maximized in order to provide shelter to those in
distress. In addition, previous studies on volumetric origami have
shown not only the reconfigurability but also the self-locking and/or
load-bearing capabilities [43–45], which is advantageous for designing
sturdy structures. The TMP structure for this type of application might
need a covering, and for this, relatively simple solutions such as tarps
could be employed [46]. More recent work by the authors also explored
the possibility to have active aerodynamics surfaces using as well
origami-type structures made out of composites [47].
With a careful selection of geometric parameters, our TMP struc-
tures could be designed to be slender for use as a deployable boom.
7
Composites Science and Technology 191 (2020) 108060
As a boom, radio antennas or other mission critical equipment such as
solar panels for space missions could be mounted onto the TMP. In fact,
if solar panels are to be mounted onto the TMP, it could be designed
to be flatter and less slim to maximize the surface area. Should the
mission require adjustments in the orientation of the solar panels, the
TMP could fold or unfold as needed to optimize the solar intensity and
therefore power being generated from the solar panels. Something to
be mindful of in these applications: As urethane is a sealant, any im-
purities in the curing of the TMP could lead to undesirable outgassing.
Special steps should be taken to ensure this will not effect the mission
objectives.
For some of these applications, we will need to consider the scalabil-
ity of the proposed TMP structures using our manufacturing approach.
The kinematic behavior described in Section 2 is of course scalable.
Although we are confident that our manufacturing process could be
also scaled up for large TMP structures, we have to consider the effects
of the increase in mass on the system. Our current analytical model
for the force–displacement relationship of TMP neglects gravitational
effects. With some modification of the relationship or with numerical
approaches, we expect to predict the effect of gravity. Furthermore, we
can also tune the composite TMP structures by modifying the materials
used in their construction. If a less brittle material is required for an
application, aramid fibers could be utilized instead of carbon fiber. If
you want a matrix that is not as adhesive as urethane, one can use
other hyperelastic materials in our manufacturing process. It has been
shown that silicone rubber can also provide flexibility to composite
laminates [48].
7. Conclusions
The objective of this project was to verify that rigid origami struc-
tures such as Tachi-Miura Polyhedron (TMP) could be manufactured
A.A. Deleo et al.
using composite materials for a broad range of engineering applica-
tions such as space, disaster-relief, medical, and even architectural
deployable structures where a high strength-to-weight ratio is crucial.
The goal of manufacturing a complete TMP origami in composites
was achieved by sandwiching CFRP facets and GFRP crests using a
very flexible urethane epoxy. A Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) method
was utilized due to the overall process being simpler, cheaper, and
as reliable as conventional composite manufacturing methods such as
VARTM and autoclave. A prototype manufactured using this method
was shown to be deployable and the possibility to store composite
TMP structures and deploy them in different stages was confirmed. The
prototype was also shown to have a deterministic force–displacement
behavior predicted by a rigid origami model.
Future investigations in regards to TMP will focus on the tunability
of the geometry of the structure as well as the fiber orientations along
its creases. Furthermore, other hyperelastic materials that can form
the matrix of the creases will be studied and possibly implemented to
observe any interesting behavior. The robustness of our manufacturing
process will be verified in other foldable and deployable structures that
also possess tunable properties.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Antonio Alessandro Deleo: Investigation, Writing - review & edit-
ing. James O’Neil: Investigation, Writing - review & editing. Hiromi
Yasuda: Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Marco Salviato:
Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Jinkyu Yang: Supervision,
Writing - review & editing.
Acknowledgment
JO, HY, and JY acknowledge the financial support from the Wash-
ington Research Foundation.
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