Thermal performance of dynamic,origami-inspired geometries: An experimental study

Origami has become an increasingly popular geometry in thermal engineering, namely, heat regulatory applications such as heat sinks and radiators. In this study, the radiative heating and radiative and natural convective cooling of three origami geometries (W-fold, Miura Ori (1), and Miura Ori (2)) made of heavy-duty aluminum foil under a radiative heater with different powers (800, 1600, and 2400 W) and different compression lengths (0.15, 0.25, 0.35, and 0.45 m) were investigated. It was found that the Miura Ori (1) and Miura Ori (2) geometries have three to four times high-temperature differences (the maximum temperature at the end of the heating process minus the initial temperature) than the W-fold geometry. The Miura Ori (2) and Miura Ori (1) geometries produced high heat capacity enhancements of 1.2–3.2 times at high compression lengths that showed great potential for applications such as solar steam generators. The overall heat transfer coefficient for cooling can be controlled by changing the compression length of the origami geometry, allowing for dynamic surface temperature controls. This parameter decreases by up to 25.3%, 22.6%, and 45.9% for W-fold, Miura Ori (1), and Miura Ori (2), respectively, in comparison to their flat states.