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Viscoelastic Effects In Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Strain Energy Deployable Composite Tape Springs, Elisa C. Borowski

Civil Engineering ETDs

Strain energy deployable composite structures are of great importance to the aerospace community due to their light weight, high stiffness, impressive flexibility, compact stowage configuration, and ability to self-deploy. These attributes make composite deployable hinges ideal for aerospace applications that can benefit from decreased payload and decreased structural complexity through a reduction in deployment parts. However, successful application of these deployable structures requires an in-depth understanding of their mechanical behavior throughout stowage and deployment processes. Upon release from a high strain stowage configuration, high deployment accelerations caused by a great amount of stored strain energy could potentially damage the structure …