Multistable Textured Shell Structures

Multistable structures are a promising basis for reconfigurable systems. A multistable structure will remain in one of its stable configurations until actuation forces it to move to another PP stable configuration. This paper will describe a promising method of forming structures with useful multiple stable states by using prestressed textured shell surfaces. Textured shell structures have features at a scale intermediate between the global structural scale, and the material scale, and can have some remarkable structural properties. This paper will describe two simple examples: a globally flat, but corrugated shell, and a globally curved, doubly corrugated shell. Both structures show additional stable equilibrium configurations that would not be possible without the textured surface.