Laminar Jamming Structures are composed of stacked layers of flexible sheets, which are very compliant in their natural state. This feature enables the components to conform to complex shapes, allowing them to be used in biomedical applications and in a number of wearables. In addition, the choice of material and number of layers of these structures can be used to tune the desired stiffness and damping ability for specific applications.
The morphology of the LJS - meaning the structure, size and shape - can be easily changed during the fabrication process, allowing fast prototyping and a number of iterations in order to enhance the structure's performance. In addition, jamming structures have the ability to shape-lock, i.e., if they are deformed to a specific shape when they are in their natural, unjammed state and then vacuum is turned on, they can retain the deformed shape and resist static loading.
Furthemore, a number of other variables can affect the stiffness of the LJS, such as the choice of material, the thickness of layers as well as the total number of layers. For more information, refer to the Design Tool section.