Open-Section Origami Beams for Energy Absorption

A series of novel open-section beams employing origami geometries were developed. These beams overcame the Brazier's effect, and they can provide more constant bending resistance and overall higher energy absorption than conventional open-section beams. Numerical simulations and experiments were used to validate these designs and showed that properly designed origami beams can achieve 23.0%-40.0% higher energy absorption and 12.7%-20.7% lower load uniformity than conventional beams under quasi-static loading.