Probing the Stability of Ladder-Type Coilable Space Structures

Abstract

This paper analyzes the buckling and postbuckling behavior of ultralight ladder-type coilable structures, called strips, composed of thin-shell longerons connected by thin rods. Based on recent research on the stability of cylindrical and spherical shells, the stability of strip structures loaded by normal pressure is studied by applying controlled perturbations through localized probing. A plot of these disturbances for increasing pressure is the stability landscape for the structure, which gives insight into the structure’s buckling, postbuckling, and sensitivity to disturbances. The probing technique is generalized to higher-order bifurcations along the postbuckling path, and low-energy escape paths into buckling that cannot be predicted by a classical eigenvalue formulation are identified. It is shown that the stability landscape for a pressure-loaded strip is similar to the landscape for classical shells, such as the axially loaded cylinder and the pressure-loaded sphere. Similarly to classical shells, the stability landscape for the strip shows that an early transition into buckling can be triggered by small disturbances; however, while classical shell structures buckle catastrophically, strip structures feature a large stable postbuckling range.