Architected materials towards mechanical computing

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20422
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0301:Mechanics of materials, production engineering, design engineering, fluid engineering, thermal engineering, mechanical dynamics, robotics, aerospace engineering, marine and maritime engineering, and related fields
• Research Institution: Japan Aerospace EXploration Agency
• Principal Investigator: Yasuda Hiromi 国立研究開発法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 航空技術部門, 宇宙航空プロジェクト研究員 (10910903)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: Mechanical metamaterials / 折り紙

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Recently, mechanical metamaterials have attracted significant interest from researchers from various research fields. One of the reasons is that mechanical metamaterials can exhibit tunable (or controllable) static and dynamic responses. In this study, we explored the tunable mechanical properties of origami-based mechanical structures, specifically Miura-ori. We designed the origami-based system by introducing two different material properties to enhance the folding/unfolding behavior. To examine the folding/unfolding behavior, we conducted the eigenvalue analysis and characterized each eigenmode. Based on the eigenvalue analysis, we fabricated a prototype by employing an additive manufacturing technique to demonstrate the enhanced folding motion. Also, dynamic analysis of our origami-based structure was performed. Our simulation results show the different dynamic responses depending on how we apply two different inputs to the system.

Free Research Field

機械工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、折り紙構造の静的・動的応答を制御するため2種の材料を導入し、固有値解析と試作によりその有効性を確認した。これにより、折り紙の折り変形を利用した機械構造の幾何形状の制御において、理論もしくは数値解析のモデルを実際に製作する際に幾何形状の設計から材料の選定、試作の方法における知見を与えると考える。また、本研究で行った動解析の手法を用いることで、そういった構造が外部からの入力を受けたときの動的挙動に関する知見を得るのに役立てることができると考える。