Computational origami: A universal method to wrap 3-D curved surfaces with nonstretchable materials
The counterintuitive question on how to wrap a curved spherical surface using conventionally stiff and non-stretchable or brittle materials, forms the basis of this study. To answer the question, Yu-Ki Lee and a research team in the departments of materials engineering and computer science in the Republic of Korea and the U.S. extended a geometrical design method of computational origami to wrap spherical constructs in a new report now published in Science Advances. The approach provided a robust and reliable method to engineer conformal devices for arbitrary curved surfaces using a computationally designed nonpolyhedral developable net. The computer-aided design transformed two-dimensional (2-D) materials such as silicon (Si) wafers and steel sheets into conformal structures that could fully wrap 3-D structures without fracture or deformation. The computational wrapping method allowed them to develop a design platform to transform conventionally non-stretchable 2-D devices into conformal 3-D curved surfaces.