Jim Turner

Self-Folding

Three-dimensional structures from electrically-activated self-folding of polymer sheets

This was research I conducted at North Carolina State University in 2011–15 regarding a method to create three-dimensional structures from electrically-activated self-folding of polymer sheets. Basically, the idea was to run current through a patterned layer of nanowires on top of a prestrained polymer sheet in order to nonuniformly heat and relax the sheet along the desired fold lines.

Photograph of a sample that folded about 90°.
A successfully folded sample. Image © 2013 Jim Turner and licensed under CC BY‑SA 4.0.

Publications & Presentations

Turner, J. D. and Y. Zhu. “Three-dimensional structures from electrically-activated self-folding of polymer sheets”. Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium. North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC, July 2014. (poster (PDF))

Qin, Q., R. W. Mailen, J. D. Turner, Y. Liu, J. Genzer, M. D. Dickey, and Y. Zhu. “Self-Folding of Polymer Sheets into Origami: Modeling and Experiments”. SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics. Lombard, IL, June 2013.