Shaping the topology of folding pathways in mechanical systems

Menachem Stern, Viraaj Jayaram and Arvind Murugan ()
Additional contact information
Menachem Stern: University of Chicago
Viraaj Jayaram: University of Chicago
Arvind Murugan: University of Chicago

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Disordered mechanical systems, when strongly deformed, have complex configuration spaces with multiple stable states and pathways connecting them. The topology of such pathways determines which states are smoothly accessible from any part of configuration space. Controlling this topology would allow us to limit access to undesired states and select desired behaviors in metamaterials. Here, we show that the topology of such pathways, as captured by bifurcation diagrams, can be tuned using imperfections such as stiff hinges in elastic networks and creased thin sheets. We derive Linear Programming-like equations for designing desirable pathway topologies. These ideas are applied to eliminate the exponentially many ways of misfolding self-folding sheets by making some creases stiffer than others. Our approach allows robust folding by entire classes of external folding forces. Finally, we find that the bifurcation diagram makes pathways accessible only at specific folding speeds, enabling speed-dependent selection of different folded states.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06720-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-06720-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06720-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().