The Folding of Triangulated Cylinders, Part III: Experiments

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental investigation of a type of foldable cylindrical structure, first presented in two earlier papers. Three cylinders of this type were designed and manufactured, and were then tested to find the force required to fold them. The results from these tests show some discrepancies with an earlier computational simulation, which was based on a pin-jointed truss model of the cylinders. Possible explanations for these discrepancies are explored, and are then verified by new simulations using computational models that include the effect of hinge stiffness, and the effect of geometric imperfections.