Design of deployable circular structures based on Miura origami pattern

Abstract

A high deploy/fold ratio is essential for space deployable structures to maintain the storage efficiency of the spacecraft. This paper proposes a planar deployable circular structure (DCS) based on the Miura-ori pattern, as well as the design of system parameters and an optimization model for the deploy/fold ratio. In addition, another method for designing curved-surface DCS is proposed that is based on the parallel projection principle. To ensure the structure's foldability and surface accuracy, a mathematical model is established based on the projected vertices on the innermost circle of the target spherical surface. Moreover, suitable numerical design methods for obtaining the vertices of planar and curved-surface DCSs are summarized. Furthermore, the actuation methods for planar and curved-surface deployable structures are presented. The physical prototypes are fabricated, and deployment experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed design approach. The novel design of planar and curved-surface DCSs presented in this paper provides a new inspiration for the practical design of deployable space structures.