Designing method for a folding line diagrams of arbitrary cross-section honeycomb cores

Abstract

This study illustrates a new strategy to fabricate arbitrary cross-section honeycombs. These types of honeycombs are usually manufactured from normal flat honeycombs by curving or carving, but the proposed method enables us to construct objective shaped honeycombs directly. We first introduce the concept of the kirigami honeycomb, which is made from single flat sheets and has periodical slits resembling kirigami (Japanese art of study folding and cutting). In previous studies, honeycombs having various shapes, including tapered and aerofoil honeycombs, were made using this method, and were realized by only changing folding line diagrams (FLDs). In this study, these 3D kirigami honeycombs are generalized by numerical parameters and fabricated using a newly proposed FLD design method, which enables us to draw the FLD of arbitrary cross-section honeycombs © 2012 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.