Experimental and Numerical Identification of a Monolithic Articulated Concentrated Strain Elastic Structure's (MACSES's) Properties

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify the effective continuum properties of a recently developed, deployable hierarchical truss architecture composed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) tubes and CFRP tape-spring hinge elements with embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) flexures; this particular structural system is referred to as monolithic articulated concentrated strain elastic structure (MACSES) and is representative of a concentrated, material deformation based deployable architecture. The scope of this study encompasses numerically and experimentally identifying the deployed stiffness and strength performance, i.e., bending, shear, torsion, and axial moduli with corresponding critical loads, of a 540 mm radius boom. Bending modulus to linear mass ratio was measured at 145 kNm3kg-1. Of particular interest were the sensitivity of joint composition to global properties and the acceptability of discontinuous load-paths. Developmental aspects of the MACSES architecture, including the concept at the individual element level, the packaging kinematics design, and evaluation and scaling the global performance of the system are reported in a preceding manuscript.