Mechanical Behaviors of the Origami-Inspired Horseshoe-Shaped Solar Arrays

Micromachines

Shichao Xing¹  Yan Shi²  Luqiao Qi²  Zhi Li²  Cunfa Gao²  Chengguo Yu³ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Construction Hydraulic Robots of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Tongling University, Tongling 244061, China;State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China;Xi’an Research Institute of High Technology, Xi’an 710025, China;

关键词: solar arrays;    horseshoe-shaped structure;    shooting method;    finite deformation theory;    experiment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/mi13050732

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The importance of flexibility has been widely noticed and concerned in the design and application of space solar arrays. Inspired by origami structures, we introduce an approach to realizing stretchable and bendable solar arrays via horseshoe-shaped substrate design. The structure has the ability to combine rigid solar cells and soft substrates skillfully, which can prevent damage during deformations. The finite deformation theory is adapted to find the analytic model of the horseshoe-shaped structure via simplified beam theory. In order to solve the mechanical model, the shooting method, a numerical method to solve ordinary differential equation (ODE) is employed. Finite element analyses (FEA) are also performed to verify the developed theoretical model. The influences of the geometric parameters on deformations and forces are analyzed to achieve the optimal design of the structures. The stretching tests of horseshoe-shaped samples manufactured by three-dimensional (3D) printing are implemented, whose results shows a good agreement with those from theoretical predictions. The developed models can serve as the guidelines for the design of flexible solar arrays in spacecraft.

【 授权许可】

Unknown