Snap to morph

Lucie Domino – Univ. Amsterdam, Pays-Bas

Creating mechanical structures that have the ability to change shape in a controlled manner is an important challenge nowadays. Many of these so-called morphing structures now exist (they are inflatable, multi material 3D printed, magnetically actuated…), but they always morph into one single shape. Here I will present morphing structures made from bi stable elements (thin elastic shells) embedded in a flat elastic sheet. From the bi stability analysis of a single shell and geometrical frustration arguments I will explain the different stable shapes one can obtain.