{"682081":{"#nid":"682081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Unlocking a New Class of Material \u2014 With Origami","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EOrigami \u2014 the Japanese art of folding paper \u2014 could be at the next frontier in innovative materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EPracticed in Japan since the early 1600s, origami involves combining simple folding techniques to create intricate designs. Now, Georgia Tech researchers are leveraging the technique as the foundation for next-generation materials that can both act as a solid and predictably deform, \u201cfolding\u201d under the right forces. The research could lead to innovations in everything from heart stents to airplane wings and running shoes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ERecently published in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Ethe study, \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-025-57089-x\u0022\u003ECoarse-grained fundamental forms for characterizing isometries of trapezoid-based origami metamaterials\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d was led by first author\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJames McInerney\u003C\/strong\u003E, who is now a NRC Research Associate at the Air Force Research Laboratory. McInerney, who completed the research while a postdoctoral student at the\u0026nbsp;University of Michigan,\u0026nbsp;was previously a doctoral student at Georgia Tech in the group of study co-author\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rocklin.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZeb Rocklin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. The team also includes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cee.princeton.edu\/people\/glaucio-h-paulino\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGlaucio Paulino\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E(Princeton University), \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/xiaoming-mao\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EXiaoming Mao\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E(University of Michigan), and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/webapps.unitn.it\/du\/en\/Persona\/PER0018004\/Didattica\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDiego Misseroni\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (University of Trento).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cOrigami has received a lot of attention over the past decade due to its ability to deploy or transform structures,\u201d McInerney says. \u201cOur team wondered how different types of folds could be used to control how a material deforms when different forces and pressures are applied to it\u201d \u2014 like a creased piece of cardboard folding more predictably than one that might crumple without any creases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe applications of that type of control are vast. \u201cThere are a variety of scenarios ranging from the design of buildings, aircraft, and naval vessels to the packaging and shipping of goods where there tends to be a trade-off between enhancing the load-bearing capabilities and increasing the total weight,\u201d McInerney explains. \u201cOur end goal is to enhance load-bearing designs by adding origami-inspired creases \u2014 without adding weight.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe challenge, Rocklin adds, is using physics to find a way to predictably model what creases to use and when to achieve the best results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeformable solids\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ERocklin, a theoretical physicist and associate professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/d-zeb-rocklin\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech, emphasizes the complex nature of these types of materials. \u201cIf I tug on either end of a sheet of paper, it\u0027s solid \u2014 it doesn\u2019t separate,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut it\u0027s also flexible \u2014 it can crumple and wave depending on how I move it. That\u2019s a very different behavior than what we might see in a conventional solid, and a very useful one.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBut while flexible solids are uniquely useful, they are also very hard to characterize, he says. \u201cWith these materials, it is often difficult to predict what is going to happen \u2014 how the material will deform under pressure because they can deform in many different ways. Conventional physics techniques can\u0027t solve this type of problem, which is why we\u0027re still coming up with new ways to characterize structures in the 21st century.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWhen considering origami-inspired materials, physicists start with a flat sheet that\u0027s carefully creased to create a specific three-dimensional shape; these folds determine how the material behaves. But the method is limited: only parallelogram-based origami folding, which uses shapes like squares and rectangles, had previously been modeled, allowing for limited types of deformation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cOur goal was to expand on this research to include trapezoid faces,\u201d McInerney says. Parallelograms have two sets of parallel sides, but trapezoids only need to have one set of parallel sides. Introducing these more variable shapes makes this type of creasing more difficult to model, but potentially more versatile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBreathing and shearing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cFrom our models and physical tests, we found that trapezoid faces have an entirely different class of responses,\u201d McInerney shares. In other words \u2014 using trapezoids leads to new behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe designs had the ability to change their shape in two distinct ways: \u0022breathing\u0022 by expanding and contracting evenly, and \u201cshearing\u0022 by deforming in a twisting motion. \u201cWe learned that we can use trapezoid faces in origami to constrain the system from bending in certain directions, which provides different functionality than parallelogram faces,\u201d McInerney adds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESurprisingly, the team also found that some of the behavior in parallelogram-based origami carried over to their trapezoidal origami, hinting at some features that might be universal across designs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWhile our research is theoretical, these insights could give us more opportunities for how we might deploy these structures and use them,\u201d Rocklin shares.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFuture folding\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWe still have a lot of work to do,\u201d McInerney says, sharing that there are two separate avenues of research to pursue. \u201cThe first is moving from trapezoids to more general quadrilateral faces, and trying to develop an effective model of the material behavior \u2014 similar to the way this study moved from parallelograms to trapezoids.\u201d Those new models could help predict how creased materials might deform under different circumstances, and help researchers compare those results to sheets without any creases at all. \u201cThis will essentially let us assess the improvement our designs provide,\u201d he explains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThe second avenue is to start thinking deeply about how our designs might integrate into a real system,\u201d McInerney continues. \u201cThat requires understanding where our models start to break down, whether it is due to the loading conditions or the fabrication process, as well as establishing effective manufacturing and testing protocols.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a very challenging problem, but biology and nature are full of smart solids \u2014 including our own bodies \u2014 that deform in specific, useful ways when needed,\u201d Rocklin says. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to replicate with origami.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was funded by the Office of Naval Research, European Union, Army Research Office, and National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDOI\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-57089-x\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-57089-x\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA recent physics study has unlocked a new type of origami-inspired folding, and could lead to advances in everything from heart stents to airplane wings.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A recent physics study has unlocked a new type of origami-inspired folding, and could lead to advances in everything from heart stents to airplane wings."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2025-04-28 14:40:21","changed_gmt":"2025-05-01 15:22:33","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676970":{"id":"676970","type":"image","title":"By unlocking a new type of origami-inspired folding, a recent physics study could lead to advances in everything from heart stents to airplane wings. (Adobe Stock)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EBy unlocking a new type of origami-inspired folding, a recent physics study could lead to advances in everything from heart stents to airplane wings. (Adobe Stock)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1745856017","gmt_created":"2025-04-28 16:00:17","changed":"1745856017","gmt_changed":"2025-04-28 16:00:17","alt":"By unlocking a new type of origami-inspired folding, a recent physics study could lead to advances in everything from heart stents to airplane wings. (Adobe Stock)","file":{"fid":"260827","name":"Origami_ForStory.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/28\/Origami_ForStory.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/28\/Origami_ForStory.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":197562,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/28\/Origami_ForStory.jpg?itok=uQx8IvlH"}}},"media_ids":["676970"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186870","name":"go-imat"},{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Selena Langner\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContact: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}