Ultra-thin TRAC booms are a promising technology for large deployable structures for space applications. A manufacturing process producing composites TRAC booms with flange thickness as low as 53 μm is proposed. Coiling behavior around hub with radii ranging from 19.1 mm to 31.8 mm is studied both experimentally and through finite element simulations. Due to the thinness of the TRAC boom, a buckle appears in the inner flange, in the transition region from the fully deployed to the coiled configurations. Material failure is observed at this location, and this correlates well with stresses computed in simulation, coupled with the fiber microbuckling failure criterion. Reducing the thickness, either by changing the laminate or by improving the manufacturing process, is shown to reduce stresses, allowing coiling around smaller hubs without material failure.
This paper investigates the deployment behavior of lightweight flexible space structures consisting of thin shell components. An extensive and detailed study of a symmetrically folded structure that dynamically deploys by releasing its stored elastic energy is presented. The challenges involved with ground testing of this structure are discussed, and a suspension system that allows propagation of the elastic folds is proposed. The dynamics of two 1 m-scale structural prototypes was measured using high-speed Digital Image Correlation. It is shown that, for the tests considered, the elastic folds remain stationary and behave as elastic hinges, resulting in a symmetric and repeatable deployment. Deployment experiments in air and vacuum showed that air mass significantly affects the dynamics of the structure, slowing its deployment by 70 %. However, this effect becomes negligible if the deployable structure is not covered by a film. A finite element model of the deployment is presented. The effects of air are approximated by an added mass to the structure, calculated through simple geometric arguments. This model shows good agreement with experimental results without increasing the associated computational time.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.