Harnessing waves with folds: a flexible origami-inspired wave energy converter

Harnessing waves with folds: a flexible origami-inspired wave energy converter

Materials & Design

10.1016/j.matdes.2025.115411

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2025.115411

Jingyi Yang, Zhong You, Maozhou Meng, Tom Tosdevin, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, John R. Chaplin, Bohan Chen, Siming Zheng, Martyn Hann, Shanshan Cheng, Xinyu Wang, Krishnendu Puzhukkil, Malcolm Cox, Kieran Monk, Deborah M. Greaves

Origami-inspired design, Folding-dominate volume change, Wave energy converter, Small strain

29 December 2025

Yang, J., You, Z., Meng, M., Tosdevin, T., Borthwick, A. G. L., Chaplin, J. R., Chen, B., Zheng, S., Hann, M., Cheng, S., Wang, X., Puzhukkil, K., Cox, M., Monk, K., & Greaves, D. M. (2026). Harnessing waves with folds: a flexible origami-inspired wave energy converter. Materials & Design, 262, 115411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2025.115411

Ocean waves offer sustainable power yet the design of efficient and durable wave energy converters (WECs) remains challenging. We focus on a WEC that harvests energy from chamber volume change as two bottom-hinged plates open and close with passing wave troughs and crests, driving a turbine generator. For the first time, we present an origami-inspired enclosed WEC whose plates are linked by rigid pleats and confined membrane regions. Unlike traditional flexible WECs that connect the flaps with elastic membranes that stretch, our design achieves predictable cyclic motion through origami folding mechanisms. Using an analytical design method, we optimize dimensions of the pleats and membranes that keep membrane strain minimal during operation. The analytical design is confirmed by finite element analyses, which indicates negligible membrane strain under normal operation, therefore long fatigue life. Tests on a 1:160 scale prototype achieve a capture width ratio of 0.35 and demonstrate robustness under irregular waves and deliberate misalignment. Our WEC design allows the power take-off (PTO) system to be positioned above sea level, ensuring the PTO system operates in air and remains unaffected even if sealing fails. These results demonstrate the potential of origami-inspired WECs as viable and scalable approaches to wave energy harvesting.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

EPSRC grant

EPSRC grant

© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/22840

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Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology