Elastic buckling control of cylindrical shells using origami patterns*

Elastic buckling of thin cylindrical shells, mainly due to loss of local stability, is difficult to be precisely predicted. Here we report a cylinder which has unfolded origami pattern embedded on the surface, with the aim of control its buckling behaviors. Two kind of patterns, a straight-crease diamond pattern, and a curved-crease origami pattern with elastica surface, were studied. We found the buckling modes of the cylinder were sensitively affected by pattern geometric parameters through quasi-static axial compression. Furthermore, the buckled configurations could be accurately controlled if appropriate guidance creases was selected. Finally, the snap-through behavior of the repetitive lobes formed on the cylinders was investigated, where the variation in strain energy during the buckling process was obtained. By using the proposed method, we are able to accurately design the buckled configurations of a cylinder upon specific requirements.