Reconfigurable Kirigami

Kirigami is an art form wherein cuts introduced in flat, thin sheets allows the sheet to morph from one single closed and compact configuration into a given open structure, via a coordinated rotation of the individual elements. We depart from this simple paradigm by proposing a framework for the design of compact reconfigurable kirigami patterns, which can morph from a closed and compact configuration into a deployed state conforming to any prescribed target shape, and subsequently be contracted into a different closed and compact configuration. We further establish a condition for producing reconfigurable kirigami patterns which are rigid deployable. Together this lays out a new path for designing shape-morphing mechanical metamaterials.