Architected kirigami metamorphosis

Abstract

Kirigami, art of paper cutting, enables two-dimensional sheets transforming into unique shapes which are also hard to reshape once with prescribed cutting patterns. Rare kirigami designs manipulate cuts on three-dimensional objects to compose periodic structures with programmability and/or re-programmability. Here, we propose a new class of three-dimensional modular kirigami by introducing cuts on cuboid-shaped objects, based on which constructing two quasi-three-15 dimensional architected kirigamis with even-flat structural form. We demonstrate the proposed architected kirigamis are with rich mobilities triggered by kinematic bifurcations inherited from their composed modular kirigami, and can undergo living-matter-like metamorphosis evolving into miscellaneous transformable three-dimensional architectures and even a pluripotent platform capable of being re-programmed into curvature different surfaces through inverse design. Such 20 metamorphic structures could find broad applications in reconfigurable metamaterials, transformable robots and architectures.