A Study Into Complex, Tape Spring Based, Space Deployable Structures

Abstract eng:
Deployable structures are required for many satellite operations, to deploy booms for communications or area deployment for power generation, and many sophisticated mechanisms have been developed for these types of structures. However, tape springs, defined as thin metallic strips with an initially curved cross-section, are an attractive structural solution and hinge mechanism for satellite deployable structures because of their low mass, low cost and general simplicity. They have previously been used to deploy booms and array panels in various configurations that incorporate small two-dimensional tape hinges, but they also have the potential to be used in greater numbers to create larger, more geometrically complicated deployable structures. This publication will investigate, using theoretical and experimental methods, the static and dynamic behaviour of deployable structures that use a significant quantity of tape springs. This will be achieved by investigating the structural performance of a deployable wall incorporating three lines of tape spring hinges mounted in pairs, totalling over 100 individual tape springs. This wall will be statically and dynamically modelled, using finite element software, to predict the deployment kinematics and to identify the influence of the tape springs on the static stiffness of the deployed structure. These models will be compared to experimental test data on an equivalent structural wall to demonstrate the validity of these models.

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