Modelling built up, tape spring based, space deployable structures

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. The aim of this work is to investigate a computationally efficient method of simulating these tape spring based deployable structures and to determine the limitations of the analysis approach. The study focuses on a specific deployable structure layout that incorporates 148 separate tape spring elements in three fold lines. The static and dynamic properties of the system are initially investigated experimentally allowing the basic parameters of the theoretical model to be determined accurately. It was found that the simulated tape pair stiffness was a key parameter affecting the dynamic properties of the model and the peak shock accelerations. It was concluded that the model was capable of closely simulating the dynamic 'snap through' behaviour of the wall. However, the torsional stiffness around the axis normal to the plane of the structure was found to be too large, resulting in over approximations of the peak shock accelerations