Enhancement of a Spring-mass System Model for Numerical Simulations of Centrifugal Deployment Dynamics of Folded Square Membranes

In this paper, the spring-mass system model developed for simple numerical simulations of thin membranes is enhanced by taking into account the properties of buckling and creases. The model is applied to the numerical simulations of centrifugal deployments of folded square membranes that are small-scale models for solar sail spacecraft “IKAROS”. First the folding and deployment methods are reviewed. Then the formulation of the enhanced spring-mass system model is explained. Numerical simulations of the centrifugal deployments of two kinds of folded square membranes with different crease intervals are performed and the numerical results are compared with the corresponding experimental results. The deployment behaviors are discussed and the validity of the spring-mass system model is examined