Controlling the snap-through behavior of kirigami arches

TL;DR

This paper investigates how specific cut patterns in kirigami arches influence their snap-through stability, demonstrating that design choices can control or prevent stability loss, supported by numerical analysis and experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a two-parameter pattern analysis to control snap-through behavior in kirigami arches, revealing how design parameters affect stability modes.

Findings

Support distance affects bifurcation type and stability loss

Certain cut parameters lead to monotonic monostability

Experimental data confirms numerical predictions

Abstract

This work examines the snap-through behavior of clamped-clamped kirigami arches made from initially flat, thin, cut sheets under increasing vertical concentrated load acting at midspan. A two-parameter, symmetric pattern is introduced to conduct a numerical parameter analysis across three different support distances. When the support distance is one-quarter of the total length of the sheet, the structure loses stability at a symmetry point bifurcation over a wide range of parameters. Additionally, there exists a small range of parameters where limit point bifurcation occurs. In this case, the cuts can induce symmetry in the stability loss. For larger support distances (half or three-quarters of the total length), limit point bifurcation occurs only for small cuts, and there is a range of cut parameters that leads to monotonic monostability, indicating that no stability loss occurs. These findings are supported by experimental data. Overall, our research demonstrates that carefully designed cut patterns can either control the mode of stability loss in kirigami arches or suppress it entirely.