Shape Programming by Modulating Actuation over Hierarchical Length Scales

Many active materials used in shape-morphing respond to an external stimulus by stretching or contracting along a director field. The programming of such actuators remains complex because of the single degree of freedom (the orientation) in local actuation. Here, texturing this field in zigzag patterns is shown to provide an extended family of biaxial active stretches out of an otherwise single uniaxial active deformation, opening a larger parameter space. By further modulating the zigzag patterns at the larger scale of the structure, its deployed shape can be controlled. This notion of texturing over hierarchical length scales follows geometrical principles, and is robust against changes in size and materials. The robustness of the approach is demonstrated by considering three different responsive materials: inextensible flat fabrics, channel-bearing elastomer (respectively, contracting and expanding perpendicularly to the director field when actuated pneumatically), and 3D-printed thermoplastic (composed of extruded filaments that contract when heated). It is shown that large-scale shape-morphing structures can be generated and that their geometry can be controlled with high accuracy.