{"445351":{"#nid":"445351","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Paper Tubes Make Stiff Origami Structures","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo have developed a new \u201czippered tube\u201d configuration that makes paper structures stiff enough to hold weight yet able to fold flat for easy shipping and storage. Their method could be applied to other thin materials, such as plastic or metal, to transform structures ranging from furniture and buildings to microscopic robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIllinois graduate researcher Evgueni Filipov, Georgia Tech professor Glaucio Paulino and University of Tokyo professor Tomohiro Tachi published their work September 7 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOrigami structures would be useful in many engineering and everyday applications, such as a robotic arm that could reach out and scrunch up, a construction crane that could fold to pick up or deliver a load, or pop-up furniture. Paulino sees particular potential for quick-assembling emergency shelters, bridges and other infrastructure in the wake of a natural disaster.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOrigami became more of an objective for engineering and a science just in the last five years or so,\u201d Filipov said. \u201cA lot of it was driven by space exploration, to be able to launch structures compactly and deploy them in space. But we\u2019re starting to see how it has potential for a lot of different fields of engineering. You could prefabricate something in a factory, ship it compactly and deploy it on site.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers use a particular origami technique called Miura-ori folding. They make precise, zig-zag folded strips of paper, then glue two strips together to make a tube. While the single strip of paper is highly flexible, the tube is stiffer and does not fold in as many directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tried coupling tubes in different configurations to see if that added to the structural stiffness of the paper structures. They found that interlocking two tubes in zipper-like fashion made them much stiffer and harder to twist or bend. The structure folds up flat, yet rapidly and easily expands to the rigid tube configuration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe geometry is what really plays a role,\u201d Paulino said. \u201cWe are putting two tubes together in a strange way. What we want is a structure that is flexible and stiff at the same time. This is just paper, but it has tremendous stiffness.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe zipper configuration works even with tubes that have different angles of folding. By combining tubes with different geometries, the researchers can make many different three-dimensional structures, such as a bridge, a canopy or a tower.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ability to change functionality in real time is a real advantage in origami,\u201d Filipov said. \u201cBy having these transformable structures, you can change their functionality and make them adaptable. They are reconfigurable. You can change the material characteristics: You can make them stiffer or softer depending on the intended use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team uses paper prototypes to demonstrate how a thin, flexible sheet can be folded into functional structures, but their techniques could be applied to other thin materials, Filipov said. Larger-scale applications could combine metal or plastic panels with hinges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the researchers plan to explore new combinations of tubes with different folding angles to build new structures. They also hope to apply their techniques to other materials and explore applications from large-scale construction to microscopic structures for biomedical devices or robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll of these ideas apply from the nanoscale and microscale up to large scales and even structures that NASA would deploy into space,\u201d Paulino said. \u201cDepending on your interest, the applications I think are endless. We have just scratched the surface. Once you have a powerful concept, which we think the zipper coupling is, you can explore applications in many different areas.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation supported this work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or University of Illinois: Liz Ahlberg, (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:eahlberg@illinois.edu\u0022\u003Eeahlberg@illinois.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (217-244-1073).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Liz Ahlberg,\u0026nbsp;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.\u0026nbsp;Researchers have developed a new \u201czippered tube\u201d configuration that makes paper structures stiff enough to hold weight yet able to fold flat for easy shipping and storage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"From shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-09-07 20:14:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"445271":{"id":"445271","type":"image","title":"Size variation in origami structures","body":null,"created":"1449256205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:05","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Size variation in origami structures","file":{"fid":"203170","name":"origami-zipper008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1698400,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg?itok=L67lQxVl"}},"445291":{"id":"445291","type":"image","title":"Large folding origami structure","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Large folding origami structure","file":{"fid":"203172","name":"origami-zipper002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2258645,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg?itok=p_0zHIKO"}},"445301":{"id":"445301","type":"image","title":"Large folding origami structure - 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