# Harnessing disorder to decouple extension and shear in kirigami metamaterials

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.16583 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.16583/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 42 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 18 Jul 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Graph neural networks for materials science and chemistry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09481/) (2022)
- [Inverse-design of nonlinear mechanical metamaterials via video denoising diffusion models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19836/) (2023)
- [Unifying the design space and optimizing linear and nonlinear truss metamaterials by generative modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.14773/) (2023)
- [Recent Advances and Applications of Machine Learning in Experimental Solid Mechanics: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.07647/) (2023)
- [Differentiable graph-structured models for inverse design of lattice materials](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.05422/) (2023)
- [Generative models struggle with kirigami metamaterials](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.19196/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Kirigami turns stiff sheets into compliant, shape-morphing structures, but its reliance on periodic cut patterns comes at a cost: correlated panel rotations couple extension to shear, so stretching one axis drives a parasitic shear that cannot be suppressed, and also confine anisotropic stiffness to a narrow, discrete set of responses that cannot be tuned independently. Biological tissues overcome an analogous constraint through controlled disorder, such as graded fiber orientations in skin and hierarchical anisotropy in myocardium, achieving direction-dependent mechanics unavailable to regular architectures. Here, we show that engineered disorder is a design degree of freedom for kirigami, with stochastic kirigami accessing a continuous and far broader region of mechanical response than periodic patterns. This includes programmable anisotropy with near-complete elimination of extension-shear coupling. Because disordered patterns lack a simple parameterization, we navigate this design space with a geometry-aware graph neural network (GNN) that maps cut topology to the full nonlinear, bidirectional stress-strain response, coupled to a genetic algorithm that inverse-designs patterns reproducing target responses along two perpendicular axes. The GNN trains an order of magnitude faster and more accurately than image-based models. Fabricated elastomer samples reproduce the predicted nonlinear, anisotropic responses, closing the loop from design to physical component. By turning disorder into a variable to control directional stiffness, this work develops architected materials that stretch without parasitic shear, from soft actuators to tissue-interfacing devices matched to the anisotropy of living tissue.