Softenable composite boom for reconfigurable and self-deployable structures

This article investigates (experimentally and numerically) the time and temperature-dependent folding and unfolding behavior, including the structural nonlinearity, of thin-walled softenable composite structures. The composites are fabricated with woven fabric fibers and a heat softenable material of the shape memory polymer (SMP) resin. A numerical model is developed. The model is based on the elastic properties of the woven fabric fibers, their fabric geometry, and the thermo-viscoelastic properties of the SMP resin. A thin-walled cylindrical boom, which can be flexibly folded into an arbitrary configuration and be self-deployed, is fabricated using the heat softenable composite. The viscoelasticity and the shape memory behaviors are investigated during the folding and unfolding of the boom at elevated temperatures.