NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE BEHAVIOR OF INFLATABLE STRUCTURES FOR SPACE
- Paper number
IAC-08.C2.2.7
- Author
Mr. Luca Lampani, University of Rome - Sapienza, Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Paolo Gaudenzi, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Lightweight, efficient packaging and large operational size in space are the ideal requirements in gossamer structures and membrane materials. Several kinds of these structures were built over the years as demonstrators of spacecraft subsystems. These applications require a large gossamer membrane, which can be efficiently deployed and supported in their deployed shape with the use of large truss structures or columns. Also these supporting structures could be thought of as folded for transport into space, and then inflated to final dimensions in space prior to assembly. The difficulty to foresee the response of these components during the deployment and/or inflation phase in space or microgravity environments has increased the efforts to simulate their behavior. The aim of this work is to presents a collection of analyses performed by finite element approaches on some benchmark cases set up by ESA. These cases have the purpose of both assessing reliable numerical methods and software packages and providing solutions for some basic engineering problems in this field. The considered cases are listed below and include different phenomena:
- Pressurization and bending deflection of a structure in space in the presence of microgravity environment (modeled by implicit and explicit finite elements codes). Due to the nonlinear behavior of the model, some analyses were performed to investigate the load limit for a quasi linear response.
- Deployment analysis of inflated structures: slow and rapid (airbag) inflation and deployment control (modeled by explicit finite elements code). The dynamics is simulated by the control volume theory and the mass flow is regulated by the difference of pressure of adjacent sections and by the orifice area. Trimming these parameters permits to control the simulation of the deployment.
- Prediction of the wrinkling pattern and the wrinkles amplitude of thin membrane subjected to shear loading along the edges. Wrinkles can reduce the performance of reflectors and sunshields, or cause difficulties in maneuvering solar sails. Hence, it is now important to predict details of the wrinkles, such as wavelength and amplitude, in order to determine if the membrane structures meet the requirements of each particular application.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.C2.2.7.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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