An origami-inspired infill pattern for additive manufacturing to reinforce the energy absorption performance

Origami techniques derived from antique paper folding arts have been applied to solve engineering problems such as weight/space-saving structures and their rapid deployment for foldability. Recently, origami techniques’ potential in mechanical reinforcement for structural designs has also been discussed. For example, the mechanical performance of origami tubular structures can be significantly improved compared with the circular and hexagonal tubes under lateral loading. In this paper, an origami-inspired tubular structure was applied as the infill pattern for additive manufacturing, and energy absorption performance under dynamic and static loadings was investigated. Fused filament fabrication was selected as the testbed for the origami-inspired infill pattern investigation. The samples with the origami infill pattern presented higher dynamic and quasi-static energy absorption performance than samples with grid or honeycomb infill patterns. The proposed structural reinforcement method can be expanded to crash-worthy structures, thin-wall structures, functional structures, and the design of lightweight, high-strength parts.