Abstract
Gravity offloading of deployable space structures during ground testing is a major problem to ensure reliability of the deployment and functionality of drive mechanisms in space. Most current ground testing for large deployable space structures employ a mechanical pulley/counterweight suspension system for gravity compensation. However, with the upsizing of the structures, the size of facility becomes larger than the deployable structures, and the test cost becomes huge as well. Therefore, to overcome these problems of the gravity compensation system, we have been developed a gravity compensation system in which a pressure-regulated air spring and an air table drive in vertical direction and horizontal direction. The telescoping mechanism in vertical motion was used an inflatable tube as the air spring controlled by air pressure. However, relationship between the extended position and the inner pressure of the inflatable tube has not been clarified. Therefore, we investigated the inner pressure characteristics of vertical direction by experiment.
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