Session: 05-11-01: Multifunctional Composites and Structures: Mechanics, Modeling, and Space Applications

Paper Number: 144199

144199 - Mitigation of Energetic Deployment in Modular Composite Shells With Localized Folds 

This paper investigates how the elastic instability in fiber-reinforced composite shell structures can be tailored with multiple localized folds for the purpose of mitigating energetic dynamic deployment. Generating a proper balance of strain energy through packaging is critical for achieving reliable and controllable self-deployment as necessitated in engineered space systems. This is realized by packaging composite tape springs, which is a prototypical space structure, with combinations of multiple localized folds that are individually stable or unstable depending on the fold direction. The degree of stability for each fold is controlled with the composite shell layup and the cross-sectional shape. Finite element analysis and motion capture experiments demonstrate that the excessively disordered deployment of a cantilevered tape spring from a single unstable fold is largely mitigated when a second stable fold is adjacently introduced. This novel approach is extended to a 3D arrangement of tape springs that are coupled with additively manufactured joints. A collapsible triangular prism is assembled and two of these modules are stacked to form a lightweight truss structure that can deploy in the axial direction. Motion captured deployment experiments reveal that the shock events from the disappearance of unstable folds are largely attenuated when a second stable fold is induced in each prism column.  

Presenting Author: Saad Shabeer North Carolina State University

Presenting Author Biography: Saad is a PhD student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department in North Carolina State University. He is currently in the 3rd year of his PhD with a research interest in control of deployable structures in aerospace.

Authors:

Saad Shabeer North Carolina State University
Matthew Connor North Carolina State University
Austin Stroud North Carolina State University
Andrew Lee North Carolina State University