Hexagon-Twist Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas via Multi-Material Printed Thermo-Responsive Origami Structures

Abstract

The origami structure has caused a great interest in the field of engineering, and it has fantastic applications in the deployable and reconfigurable structures. Owing to the unique multi-stable states, here a typical hexagon-twist origami structure is fabricated via multi-material printing technology. The printed structure has multi-stable features and the stiffness of the deformable structure is dramatically reduced under thermal triggering. Such behavior causes an increase in the structural degree of freedom, allowing for self-deployment via releasing the prestored energy in the elastic crease. The response time and reaction time of the self-deployment process are also studied and illustrate the higher energy barrier of the folded state, the longer self-deployment time. Utilizing such unique features and design principles, a prototype of frequency reconfigurable origami antenna of nine diverse operating modes is subsequently designed and assembled with the hexagon-twist origami structure as the dielectric substrate. The antenna implements the cross-band from two different frequency bands, enabling to realize frequency reconfigurable under thermal condition.

Tensile behavior of square-twist origami inspired mechanical metamaterials with soft joints and chirality applications

“…Rigid-foldable modes are used with cellular mechanical metamaterials [54], while non-rigid-foldable modes offer numerous unique advantages, such as multi-stability and adjustable stiffness properties. These modes find applications in pliable mechanisms [55], frequency reconfigurable origami antennas [52,56], and mechanical energy storage [18,57]. Currently, mechanical metamaterials assembled through origami units tend to be stacked in two ways: (i) Connecting specified creases.…”

Deployable linear and spiral array structures based on a Kresling-inspired mechanism with integrated scissor arms

“…Spatial structures inspired from origami have broad applications in the fields of science and engineering because they are complex three-dimensional (3D) structures that are highly portable, reconfigurable, and deployable. These applications include solar arrays (Cai et al, 2021;Karmakar and Mishra, 2022;Li et al, 2022), robotic devices (Chen et al, 2022;Fonseca and Savi, 2020;Robertson et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2021), antennas (Georgakopoulos et al, 2021;Ha et al, 2022;Huang et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2020), medical devices (Kim et al, 2021(Kim et al, , 2022Li et al, 2019;Zhao et al, 2022), and sensor technology to monitor pollution (Matthew et al, 2022).…”

Shape-Morphing Antenna Array by 4D-Printed Multimaterial Miura Origami

“…In general, electrical tuning components are required for electronically reconfigurable RF electronics with large electromagnetic surfaces, such as periodic structures or arrays. − However, the geometry of large electromagnetic surfaces can be effectively deformed by origami without any electrical tuning components . Therefore, origami structures (including Miura origami) have been used in many reconfigurable antennas and metasurfaces. − In general, external forces and actuators are required to fold and unfold the origami structures. However, with the development of 4D printing technology, self-morphing Miura origami structures can be realized by using SMPs.…”

“…There has been extensive research into 4D-printed origami structures recently, − although only a few studies have addressed 4D-printed origami RF electronics . However, in refs , , , and , the conductor parts of the RF electronics consisted of copper foil. This requires the copper foil to be shaped into the desired form and precisely attached to the location, which can be challenging, especially on large surfaces.…”