Snap-Through Morphogenesis in Thin-Shell Space Structures: From Concept to Scalability

This study presents a novel programmable structure that can be shaped directly on-orbit through elastic buckling in a new hybrid In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing process. This process takes inspiration from recently proposed in-space deformation processing and enables the shaping of ultrathin composite deployable booms to create large space structures. The design concept uses bistable unit cells as building blocks for a cellular deployable metastructure that can transition between multiple stable configurations through the trigger of snap-through instabilities in a sequence of cells. Conditions leading to multistability in individual cells and the full metastructure were investigated, highlighting the influence of stiffness, geometry, and target cell location on achievable deformed configurations. Another aspect of this study is the exploration of the scalability and programmability of this cellular architecture, which enables a single structure to adaptively meet a wide range of mission requirements, ranging from large deployable reflectors to reconfigurable antennas and structural booms for space infrastructure. By applying various actuation strategies, the shape of the structure can be precisely reconfigured to achieve a wide range of geometries, such as curved circular beams of varying radii or S-shaped profiles. This study offers a proof of concept for the design and assembly of complex, large ultralightweight space structures with minimal power consumption.