US20260014610
2026-01-15
Performing operations; transporting
B21D5/16
The patent application outlines a method for fabricating rigid, foldable steel load-bearing structures using a modular origami approach. The design employs unit cells with an expanded-truncated rectangular pyramid geometry, formed from metallic sheet stock through progressive folding. This modular design minimizes strain concentrations, eliminates edge-edge connections, and supports robust mechanical joining methods such as riveting. The manufacturing process utilizes press-forming molds to ensure precision and manage the springback effect in metallic materials. The resulting structures exhibit customizable densities and enhanced mechanical performance, suitable for various loading scenarios.
Cellular solids in nature enhance material properties via geometric configurations, influencing properties as much as the materials themselves. Architected materials, which mimic nature's approach, offer engineered properties and have gained interest in research. Closed-cell architected materials outperform open-cell ones in mechanical properties. However, there is a gap between the proven properties of plate lattices and their manufacturability, as current methods like additive manufacturing face limitations in scalability and energy efficiency. Origami methods offer a unique capability by transforming materials, encoding 3D spatial information within a 2D domain, and presenting manufacturing challenges when using structural materials.
The invention addresses manufacturing challenges in plate lattices, particularly the limitations of additive manufacturing. By utilizing sheet stock and progressive folding techniques, it simplifies design and assembly, enabling the use of structural materials like steel in a scalable and cost-effective manner. The discretely assembled unit cells, based on an expanded-truncated rectangular pyramid geometry, reduce folding pattern complexity and minimize strain concentrations. The modular design facilitates robust mechanical connections and introduces a scalable manufacturing process using press-forming molds, ensuring precision and repeatability.
This approach offers enhanced mechanical performance, customizable relative densities, and improved energy absorption characteristics, making the lattices suitable for both static and dynamic loading scenarios. The modular assembly method enables the creation of large-scale structures with high strength-to-weight ratios, reducing material waste and production costs. The invention is particularly advantageous for aerospace, automotive, and architecture applications, where lightweight, strong, and cost-effective load-bearing structures are critical. By overcoming existing fabrication limitations, it unlocks the potential for widespread use in engineering and architectural applications.
The detailed description provides an approach for fabricating rigid load-bearing plate structures in arbitrary sizes. The invention employs discretely assembled unit cells based on an expanded-truncated rectangular pyramid geometry, folded from sheet stock and assembled into larger structures. The modular design overcomes existing fabrication limitations, enabling scalable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective production of steel plate lattices with superior mechanical properties. The design process begins with the topology of the unit cell, focusing on plate-based cellular materials inspired by semi-regular octahedral lattices, satisfying mechanical constraints and simplifying the assembly process with robust mechanical connections.