Folding Large Antenna Tape Spring

This paper presents a novel concept for a low-mass, 50-m^2-deployable, P-band dual polarization antenna that can measure terrestrial biomass levels from a spacecraft in a low Earth orbit. A monolithic array of feed and radiating patches is bonded to a transversally curved structure consisting of two Kevlar sheets. The first sheet supports the array and the other sheet supports a ground plane. The two sheets are connected by a compliant Kevlar core that allows the whole structure to be folded elastically and to spring back to its original, undamaged shape. Test pieces have been made to demonstrate both the radio frequency and mechanical aspects of the design, particularly the radio frequency performance before and after folding the structure. It is concluded that the proposed design concept has high potential for large, low-frequency antennas for low-cost missions

Micromechanical modeling of deployment and shape recovery of thin-walled viscoelastic composite space structures

The first part of the paper presents an experimental study of the deployment and shape recovery of composite tape-springs after stowage at an elevated temperature. It is found that tape-springs deploy quickly and with a slight overshoot, but complete recovery takes place asymptotically over time. Stowage has the effect of slowing down both the shortterm deployment and long-term shape recovery. The second part of the paper presents a micromechanical finite element homogenization scheme to determine the effective viscoelastic properties of woven composite laminas. This solution scheme is employed in numerical simulations of deployment and shape recovery of composite tape-springs. The proposed micromechanical model predicts both the short-term deployment and long-term shape recovery response with close agreement to the experimental measurements

Micromechanical modeling of deployment and shape recovery of thin-walled viscoelastic composite space structures

The first part of the paper presents an experimental study of the deployment and shape recovery of composite tape-springs after stowage at an elevated temperature. It is found that tape-springs deploy quickly and with a slight overshoot, but complete recovery takes place asymptotically over time. Stowage has the effect of slowing down both the shortterm deployment and long-term shape recovery. The second part of the paper presents a micromechanical finite element homogenization scheme to determine the effective viscoelastic properties of woven composite laminas. This solution scheme is employed in numerical simulations of deployment and shape recovery of composite tape-springs. The proposed micromechanical model predicts both the short-term deployment and long-term shape recovery response with close agreement to the experimental measurements

BUCKLING OF A COLUMN WITH TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Buckling of a column with temperature dependent material properties is investigated. Euler-Bernoulli theory of thin beams is used to derive the element matrices by means of the minimum potential energy principle. Temperature dependency of material properties is taken into account in the formulation. The column is divided into finite elements with the axial degrees of freedom defined at the outer fiber of the column. Column elements have simpler derivations and compact element matrices than those of classical beam-bending element. Some illustrative examples are presented to show the convergence of numerical results obtained by the use of new elements. The results are compared with those of the classical beam-bending element and analytical solution. The new element converges to the analytical results as powerful as the classical beam-bending element. The temperature effects on the buckling loads of the column with temperature dependent material properties are also examined

Bir Komposit Kutu Kirişin Kesit Analizi

Cross-sectional analysis of a composite box-beam is performed by an analytical method and a variational-asymptotical method. The beam stiffness coefficients are obtained and compared for both analytical and variational-asymptotical methods. The parameters of box­ beam width and height, wall thicknesses, initial twist and composite orientation angle are selected for the sensitivity of box -beam stiffnesses. The sensitivity results give the most important parameters affecting the stiffnesses of the box-beam

Aeroelastic optimization of a composite tilt rotor

Ph.D.Dewey H. Hodge