The Miura fold ( ????? , Miura-ori ) is a method of folding a flat surface like a piece of paper into a smaller area. This fold is named for its discoverer, Japanese astrophysicist, Koryo Miura.
The Miura folding crease pattern forms the surface tessellation by parallelograms. In one direction, the folds lie along a straight line, with each parallelogram forming the reflection of its neighbor's mirror in every crease. In the other direction, zigzag folds, and each parallelogram is a neighboring translation across the fold. Each of the zigzag folding paths consists only of mountain creases or folds of the valley, with alternating mountains with valleys from one zigzag line to the next. Each straight crease path alternates between the creases of mountains and valleys.
Miura's fold is a rigid origami shape, meaning that the folds can be done in a continuous motion where, at every step, every parallelogram is completely flat. This property allows to be used for folding surfaces made of rigid materials. For example, a large solar panel panel for space satellites in the Japanese space program has folded Miura before it is launched and then spreads in space. The folded folded Miura can be packed into a compact shape, its thickness only reflecting the thickness of the folded material. The folded material can be disassembled in one motion by pulling the opposite ends, and also folded by pushing the two ends together. In solar system applications, this property reduces the number of motors required to open this shape, reducing weight and complexity.
Video Miura fold
Apps
The Space Flyer Unit 1996 deploys 2D Arrays of a folded Miura configuration.
The SPROUT satellite membrane structure is brought to the chamber under Miura folded, and then deployed using its own inflatable tube is transported to space in an Octagon folded state.
Other potential applications of this crease include surgical devices such as stents and fold-flat furniture.
Maps Miura fold
References
External links
- The origami science
Source of the article : Wikipedia