Conceptual Design of Deployable Space Structures from the Viewpoint of Symmetry

Abstract

The concept of symmetry is applied to the design of some existing as well as some new deployable space structures. Through the use of axis or plane symmetry, including anti-symmetry, a bay of a deployable structure may be reduced to an equivalent simple kinematic linkage. This axis of symmetry may be in the direction of deployment of the structure so that by providing a fictitious sliding joint along this axis, the problem of the design and analysis of such deployable structures can be simplified to the study of a plane or a face of the given structure. Such axis or plane of symmetry can also be used for the synthesis of new concepts. As an aid to synthesis, platonic solids can also be used for determining the orientation of these symmetric planes. Several examples are considered. A brief discussion on structural symmetry observed in graphs and dual graphs of some deployable structures will also be presented.