Tubular structures are used in many applications. Morphing or deployable structures are those whose shape can be adjusted to accommodate different functions at different stages of their life cycle: deployable cardiovascular stents that are transported with slender catheters along arteries in a compact shape for minimal invasiveness, and then deployed to the expanded shape to enlarge an occluded artery are a typical example. Current solutions are robust but lack adaptability to complex geometries and to patient-specific needs.
The goal of the project is to develop morphing tubular structures with superior morphing capabilities, delivering higher shape fidelity and better precision in the control of the forces transmitted in the morphing process and during the normal functioning of the structure or device.
The new morphing concept revisits some classical results of differential geometry, reinterpreted as a morphing algorithm: by lateral modulations of the stretches of a surface, one can program a flat sheet to acquire a desired curved shape (Gaussian morphing). Some unicellular organisms (euglenids), whose outer envelope is made of interlocked pellicle strips that can slide one relative to the adjacent one, can execute remarkable shape changes thanks to the stretches arising from the sliding of the pellicle strips.
This concept of morphing-by-sliding, suitably engineered and now protected by a patent that has been granted in November 2023, is the key to obtain unprecedented morphing capabilities in sheets and tubular structures. Applications to medical devices, industrial design, civil engineering, and architecture are being considered.
