Programmable Thick Kirigami: Folding and Cutting with Non-Zero-Thickness Materials

This paper presents a computational workflow for the design, simulation, and fabrication of programmable kirigami structures using materials with non-zero thickness. The proposed workflow integrates three components, including mesh mapping, thickness-aware unfolding, and kinematic simulation, to generate manufacturable 2D cut–fold patterns that reconstruct complex 3D geometries without collision or geometric distortion. To evaluate the approach, a kirigami-based acoustic wall composed of 67 differentiated flat, convex, and concave units was designed and fabricated using 3 mm cardboard. The results demonstrate the potential of programmable thick kirigami as a practical design and fabrication strategy for architectural systems.