Synthesis of Folded Frame Structures From Cube-Type and Eggbox-Type Kirigami Geometry

Rigid-foldable cube-type and eggbox-type kirigami geometries have been of interest for applications including folded-core sandwich panels and deployable structures. Recent studies of these geometry families noticed that their convex pattern vertices enabled several further potential applications that were not otherwise possible with the concave vertices of more common pattern families such as Miura-type patterns. The following paper investigates one such application: the synthesis of folded frame structures from kirigami pattern geometric parametrisations. A new synthesis method is proposed for two geometries: a two-way orthogonal lattice frame generated from a kirigami cube pattern; and a multi-layer octahedral frame generated from a non-developable eggbox pattern. Both frames are developed with initial translation of folded geometries to frame element centre-lines and subsequent generation of integral frame elements with pattern sub-folds. Simple prototypes are manufactured to validate the synthesis method and it is found that the cube-generated frame compares favourable with typical frames with respect to packaging efficiency.