A recent advancement in technology for deployable spacecraft structures has been the development of elastic memory composite (EMC) materials that exhibit high-strain-capacity and shape memory characteristics. EMC materials can be folded to very high induced strain and "frozen" in this folded state through a very specific thermo-mechanical cycle. Subsequently, the "frozen" strains can be recovered by re-heating the part. The primary deformation mode that allows EMC laminates to achieve significantly higher packaging strains than a traditional hard resin laminate is fiber micro-buckling that occurs within the polymer's soft-resin state (above Tg). The kinematics of this micro-buckling dictate whether or not the laminate behaves elastically, or if fibers break. This paper presents the experimental methods used to characterize the deployment repeatability and performance of an EMC laminate as well as fiber-level failure mechanics that can compromise performance during repeated deployment. These failure mechanics are shown to arise from elastic bending mechanics of the composite in its soft-resin state.
Deployment precision and mechanics of elastic memory composites
2003
10 Seiten, 6 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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