Compact reconfigurable kirigami

Abstract

Kirigami involves cutting a flat, thin sheet that allows it to morph from a closed, compact configuration into an open deployed structure via coordinated rotations of the internal tiles. By recognizing and generalizing the geometric constraints that enable this art form, we propose a design framework for compact reconfigurable kirigami patterns, which can morph from a closed and compact configuration into a deployed state conforming to any prescribed target shape, and subsequently be contracted into a different closed and compact configuration. We further establish a condition for producing kirigami patterns and mechanisms which are reconfigurable and rigid deployable allowing us to connect the compact states via a zero-energy family of deployed states. All together, our inverse design framework lays out a path for the creation of shape-morphing material structures.