Numerical analysis and experimental study on deployment process of coil-folded inflatable tube

Abstract

The inflatable deployment of coil-folded tube was simulated by spring-mass model based on energy function.Firstly,the inflation deployment moment of the coil-folded tube was derived,considering the self-contact of membrane in the deployment process and the moment induced by the steel tape in the inflatable tube wall.Secondly,a simulation program in Fortran code for the deployment process of inflatable tubes was developed.Thirdly,the inflatable deployment experiment of the coil-folded tube in the same conditions on an air track which eliminated the gravity effect was conducted.The numerical solutions of the deployment velocity were compared with the experimental results,and the good agreement verified the spring-mass model method could simulate the deployment process and dynamic characteristics of the coil-folded inflatable tube very well.Compared with the conventional finite element method,the advantage of this new method lies in its ability to analyze the deployment of complex deployable structures effectively with a comparatively simple modeling process.Analysis of the influence of inflation rate on deployment dynamic characteristics shows that large inflation rate leads to large deployment velocity.