Concept and Design of a Multistable Plate Structure

A concept is presented for a compliant plate structure that deforms elastically into a variety of cylindrical shapes and is able to maintain such shapes due to the presence of bistable components within the structure. The whole structure may be fabricated as a monolithic entity using low-cost manufacturing techniques such as injection molding. The key steps in the analysis of this novel concept are presented, and a functional model is designed and constructed to demonstrate the concept and validate the analysis. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4004459]