Design of ultrathin composite self-deployable booms

Abstract

Recently developed analysis techniques for thin shells that can be folded elastically and are able to self-deploy are used to develop an iterative design approach for this type of structure. The proposed approach considers a series of potential designs and then evaluates, for each trial design, key performance parameters through a complete simulation of its folding and deployment behavior. This design approach is applied to a boom concept consisting of a thin-walled tube in which two tape-spring hinges are made by cutting diametrically opposite slots; the geometry of the slots is fully defined by the length, width, and end diameter of the cuts. A design for a two-hinge, 1-m-long, lightweight self-deployable boom that can be wrapped around a small spacecraft is developed; the hinge geometry is chosen such that there is no damage during folding/deployment of the boom, and also the boom becomes latched at the first attempt. The chosen boom design is successfully validated experimentally.