The flexural mechanics of creased thin strips

Abstract

Many structures in Nature and Engineering are dominated by the influence of folds. A very narrow fold is a crease, which may be treated with infinitesimal width for a relatively simple geometry; commensurately, it operates as a singular hinge line with torsional elastic properties. However, real creases have a finite width and thus continuous structural properties. We therefore consider the influence of the crease geometry on the large-displacement flexural behaviour of a thin creased strip. First, we model the crease as a shallow cylindrical segment connected to initially flat side panels. We develop a theoretical model of their coupled flexural behaviour and, by adjusting the relative panel size, we capture responses from a nearly singular crease up to a full tape-spring. Precise experiments show good agreement compared to predictions.