Origami-Inspired Design for Manufacture of Composite Parts

During dry fibre processing, manufacturing geometrically complex composite parts often produces wrinkles when fabrics deform beyond their shear limits. This work proposes a design-for-manufacture approach based on origami principles, which modifies component geometry so that deformation remains within allowable deformation limits. A baseline aircraft spar geometry is considered; an origami-inspired version, along with several intermediate designs between these two extremes, are generated. Preliminary forming trials with unidirectional non-crimp fabrics show that the origami-based geometry is inherently manufacturable without defects, and that a selected intermediate design also form successfully, confirming a larger manufacturable design space than classical origami permits. Results further show that wrinkle severity increases with increasing angular defect. This provides a foundation for linking geometric measures to draping mechanics to guide the design of wrinkle-free composite components without requiring computationally expensive simulations.