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Crystalline tubular origami with non-coincident stacking enabled by isomorphic symmetry breaking for enhanced crashworthiness

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Pooya SarehORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 2026 The Author(s).The developable double-corrugation (DDC) surface, also known as the Miura-ori, is a classic origami pattern widely used across length scales, from deployable space structures to shape-shifting biomedical devices. Although the original DDC pattern is flat-foldable and globally planar, it can be easily transformed into flat-foldable and globally curved surfaces through alternating changes in the acute fold angles of the facets. However, the broader design space of globally curved DDC surfaces remains largely unexplored. Here, using a crystallography-based design framework, we construct three families of such tubular structures and establish their geometric closure conditions. Their crashworthiness is then evaluated under quasi-static axial compression via finite element simulations, with selected designs experimentally validated using laser-scored, folded, and thermally welded polypropylene sheets. The results show that isomorphic symmetry breaking does not necessarily maximize absorbed energy in all cases; rather, it regulates the crushing pathway by promoting non-coincident stacking, distributing contact and compaction events over a larger displacement range, suppressing densification-induced force peaks, and improving crush force efficiency. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that isomorphic symmetry breaking can be used as a design principle for more effective origami-inspired tubular energy absorbers, providing new guidelines for metamaterials and metastructures for impact mitigation and protection applications.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Sareh P, Dadgar M, Chen Y, Jenkouk V

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Materials and Design

Year: 2026

Volume: 270

Print publication date: 01/10/2026

Online publication date: 16/08/2026

Acceptance date: 14/08/2026

Date deposited: 07/09/2026

ISSN (print): 0264-1275

ISSN (electronic): 1873-4197

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2026.116795

DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2026.116795

Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.

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