Numerical Structural Stiffness Prediction of Thermoviscoelastic CFRP Bistable Boom

This study presents the numerical approach to predicting the on-orbit properties of the CFRP deployable structure for space application. A CFRP bistable boom can be easily deployed and stored, and is expected to be used as a support member and actuator of deployable parts on spacecraft. CFRP shows the time- and temperature-dependent stress-strain relationship mainly because of the resin. This may affect the characteristics of CFRP bistable boom, which is exposed to the harsh temperature environment and the shape change in space. In this study, material tests on the resin in CFRP and multiscale finite element analyses were performed, and the effect of temperature and deformation conditions assuming the spacecraft operation on the boom lateral stiffness was examined.