Origami-inspired self-deployment 4D printed honeycomb sandwich structure with large shape transformation

4D printing provides more design freedom for the static structures by adding time dimension in 3D printing. In recent years, some types of active origami structures fabricated by 4D printing have been developed, but most of these structures were thin sheets, which may lead to poor mechanical properties of the structures. In this work, honeycomb sandwich structures were designed to improve the stiffness and recovery force of origami structures. The in-plane tension, in-/out-plane three-point bending, recovery force and shape memory performances of the sandwich structures were investigated. The shape fixity and shape recovery ratio of the active sandwich structures were 98% and 99%, indicating excellent shape memory performance. The application of the sandwich structures in thermally activated self-deployment origami structures was verified. These developed origami structures have the advantages of large area change ratio and fast response speed, demonstrating the great application prospects in the space deployable structures such as antennas.