Wrinkling control of inflatable booms using shape memory alloy wires

Abstract

Inflatable boom is a fundamental structural part of inflatable space structures maintaining the expected configuration of the whole system, supporting external loads and guaranteeing the efficiency of the membrane surface. The inflatable structure is a thin film structure compactly packaged and expanded to the desired configuration by the internal gas pressure. But, the structures can be easily distorted and even collapsed by wrinkling. In this study, the behavior of an inflatable boom structure is investigated numerically and experimentally. To achieve a better bending strength, the methodology to control the wrinkling growth and the deformed configuration of the inflatable boom structure with shape memory alloy (SMA) wire actuator is developed. For understanding of the nonlinear behaviors of an inflatable boom due to wrinkling, the structure is numerically modeled using ABAQUS finite element program with wrinkling algorithm developed based on the Miller-Hedgepeth membrane theory. To verify the present analysis method, the inflatable boom made of Kapton film is examined by the bending tests with various internal pressures. To delay the growth of wrinkling that rapidly deteriorates the bending strength of the inflatable boom, SMA wire actuator is applied. SMA wires are attached on the edge of inflatable boom and generate recovery force to remove wrinkling and restore the deformation of the boom.

Adaptive Shape Control for Thermal Deformation of Membrane Mirror with In-plane PVDF Actuators

“…Various smart materials such as shape-memory alloys (SMAs) [4], polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films [5][6][7], piezoelectric polymer actuators [8], macrofiber composites [9,10], and microelectromechanical system transducers [11] have been used to control the surface shape of membrane structures. A parabolic deformable mirror with a piezoelectric thin film was studied and controlled based on an in-plane actuation strategy by Maji et al [12] and the active control precision proved to reach the micron level.…”

Thermomechanical behaviors of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy ribbons and their numerical modeling

“…Shape memory alloys (SMAs) offer a combination of novel properties such as the shape memory effect, pseudoelasticity, biocompatibility and a high damping capacity, all of which enable SMAs to be widely used in biomedicine (Lorenza et al, 2005), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) (Fu et al, 2004), and aerospace engineering (Roh et al, 2004;Yoo et al, 2007). Moreover, when SMA thin film is applied to actuators, it has the following advantages: a low driving voltage, a large force per volume and weight, and a faster response than a bulk SMA actuator (Shin et al, 2005).…”

Experimental characterization for active flatness control of membrane structures

“…Piezoelectric films [3], micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) transducers [4], polymer actuator [5], and shape memory alloy (SMA) wires [6] have been proposed to bond or integrate to the membrane structures in order to control surface profiles. For many precison applications, it is preferred not to put any sensors or actuators related to flatness control on the membrane that is populated with electronics.…”