Programmable origami-inspired cellular architected building blocks for flow-regulating adaptive weir

Unprecedented properties and advanced functionalities enabled by origami-based architected materials has been demonstrated at various length scales, but most prototypes only showed single mode deformation and required external fields to trigger the reconfiguration. Here, we demonstrate a simple yet robust design strategy to program modular origami-inspired cells to achieve multi-phase adaptive behavior under flow. Guided by physical tests and numerical simulations, we qualitatively proved that our small-scale origami-inspired weirs are able to show a diverse adaptive behavior under hydrodynamic force without human input. With a specific flow-regulating target, the adaptive behavior of the proposed cellular structure can be tailored by varying the geometry and density of a baseline cell, spatial layout among cells, hinge properties and arrangements, and different boundary conditions. Governed primarily by the geometric design, the proven adaptability could be achieved at various length scales and could be integrated into diverse reconfigurable systems and devices for flow regulation and management. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.