Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

Valle, Gerard D.; Litteken, Doug; Jones, Thomas C.

doi:10.2514/6.2019-1018

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…An image progression of its inflation process is shown in Figure 10. The demonstration has performed as expected and proves that inflatable habitats are feasible and applicable for future use 11 .…”

Section: Beamsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…During the Constellation program, starting in 2005, NASA developed concepts for lunar surface exploration using inflatables. Figure 11 shows some of these concepts including a concentric torus habitat, an expanding cylindrical tunnel, and a softgoods airlock 11 . While these are just a few of the potential applications, there are many more options yet to be envisioned.…”

Section: Surface Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 11. NASA lunar surface inflatable habitat design (left) and inflatable airlock design (right) 11. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inflatable technology: using flexible materials to make large structures

Litteken

2019

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXI

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Space structures are one of the most critical components for any spacecraft, as they must provide the maximum amount of livable volume with the minimum amount of mass. Deployable structures can be used to gain additional space that would not normally fit under a launch vehicle shroud. This expansion capability allows it to be packed in a small launch volume for launch, and deploy into its fully open volume once in space. Inflatable, deployable structures in particular, have been investigated by NASA since the early 1950's and used in a number of spaceflight applications. Inflatable satellites, booms, and antennas can be used in low-Earth orbit applications. Inflatable heatshields, decelerators, and airbags can be used for entry, descent and landing applications. Inflatable habitats, airlocks, and space stations can be used for in-space living spaces and surface exploration missions. Inflatable blimps and rovers can be used for advanced missions to other worlds. These applications are just a few of the possible uses for inflatable structures that will continued to be studied as we look to expand our presence throughout the solar system.

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Section: Beamsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Surface Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inflatable technology: using flexible materials to make large structures

Litteken

2019

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXI

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“…-inflatable space reflectors (Echo satellites) [15]; -inflatable antennas (SPARTAN experiment) [15]; -systems for storing and returning payload to Earth [15]; -inflatable modules for placing astronauts (BEAM) [16]; -inflatable rods for space systems distributed in space [17]; -systems for the removal of spent spacecraft from near-Earth orbits [18].…”

Section: Literature Review and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining the degree of effect of heat flows on the deformation of the shell of a space inflatable platform with a payload

Lapkhanov

Palii

Golubek

2022

EEJET

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This paper reports a study into the influence exerted by the thermal flows of space environment on the deformation of the shell of a space inflatable platform with a payload. The mathematical model of the effect of temperature fluctuations on the mass-inertial characteristics of the space inflatable platform of an ellipsoidal shape has been improved. The following assumptions were introduced to the model. The temperature distribution on the illuminated part and the unlit part of the shell is uniform. The gradient of the temperature difference between the illuminated and unlit parts is the same for all points of the shell. To determine deformations, a moment-free theory was used. The model of the space inflatable platform is a «rubber bullet» that works only for stretching and compression. All deformations are elastic. The advantages and limitations of the use of the developed mathematical model have been determined. Computer simulation of the orbital motion of a space inflatable platform with a payload in a sun-synchronous orbit was carried out. The material of the platform shell is Kapton. Estimates of temperature fluctuations in the illuminated and unlit part of the shell and the temperature of the gas inside it were obtained. The dependence of elastic deformations on temperature was determined, taking into account the Young’s modulus of the material. The influence of changes in gas pressure on the movement of payload attachment points and the change in the inertia tensor have been determined. The obtained results showed that the inertia tensor varies within the order of 10–5 kgm2. The maximum deviation of the fastening points of the payload from the initial position on the illuminated part of the shell was about 10–6 m. Considering the stability of the structure to the effects of heat flows of the space environment, the possibility of using space inflatable platforms as a means for separating a grouping of satellites has been shown

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“…Due to the exceptional creep resistance of polyarylate fibers, braided polyarylate fiber ropes are particularly favored by spacecraft deployable structures with long-term static load, such as thermal knife hold-down and release device, space tether, mesh expandable antenna, and space habitat. [1][2][3][4] However, the tensile properties of braided polyarylate fiber ropes depend on the loading history that leads to the difficulty of predicting the mechanical behavior of the rope and essentially affects the design of the ropes for the spacecraft deployable structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of preloading on tensile properties of braided polyarylate fiber ropes

Ding

Sun

Dong

et al. 2021

Textile Research Journal

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In the present work, the effects of preloading on the tensile properties of braided polyarylate fiber ropes were investigated experimentally. Four kinds of samples with different pitch lengths were tested with designed preload levels. The deformation responses of the ropes were captured using digital image correlation (DIC) and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). It is shown that the nonlinearity in the mechanical behavior of the ropes can be almost eliminated post-preloading with one cyclic loading, and the transverse strains are much greater than the longitudinal strains due to the compaction of rope structure because of the spiral interlaced path of braid yarns. The rope with shorter pitch length (larger braid angle) has larger longitudinal strain and smaller transverse strain due to the higher yarn crimp rate and tighter yarns, respectively. The preload level is the most important parameter for preloading. The chord modulus of the ropes reached an optimum level at the preload level of 40% break load, and the tensile strength can be increased by 15% at the preload level of 50% break load. Moreover, the stability of the tensile properties could be accelerated at the higher preload level. Consequently, preloading is vital to improve the tensile properties of braided polyarylate fiber ropes, with a preload level at least of 40% break load and 10 cyclic loadings.

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Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Inflatable technology: using flexible materials to make large structures

Inflatable technology: using flexible materials to make large structures

Determining the degree of effect of heat flows on the deformation of the shell of a space inflatable platform with a payload

The effects of preloading on tensile properties of braided polyarylate fiber ropes

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