Origami-based deployable structures made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites

Deployable structures are typically made of thin membranes and slender elements, which often require foldable - yet stiff - mechanical properties. The use of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites for such deployable structures has been limited due to the their rigid and unfoldable nature in general. Here, we design, fabricate, and demonstrate foldable - yet stiff - structures made of CFRP composites. To achieve this, we leverage origami design principles based on the Tachi-Miura-Polyhedron (TMP) architecture. To manufacture TMP structures, we devise a unique vacuum-bag-only composite fabrication method by using compliant urethane epoxies impregnated into woven glass fiber layers on which pre-made CFRP files are positioned. We show the resulting structures feature self-deployability, high compactness, and deterministic force-displacement characterization. Potential applications of the proposed composite origami are abundant, including deployable habitats for space exploration and disaster relief, deployable solar arrays and antennas, actively-controlled aerodynamic surfaces, and impact mitigation structures.