A Self-Deployable Pyramidal Truss Based on Water-Drop Buckling
Abstract
This paper proposes a self-deployable pyramid truss based on water-drop buckling. By bending the straight beams of the pyramid truss into water-drop shapes, elastic potential energy is stored and released upon the removal of constraints, enabling the compressed structure to deploy rapidly and autonomously. Through multi-circle bending of the beam edges and multi-cell design of the pyramids, a higher folding ratio and larger structural size are achieved. Analytical calculations, numerical simulations, and physical experiments are conducted for both the water-drop buckling and pyramidal truss deployment. The comparison results demonstrate the correctness of the calculation method and the effectiveness of the self-deployable design.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Advanced Materials and Mechanics
Structural Analysis and Optimization
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Applied Sciences
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 3750–3750
- Publication date
- 11 April 2026
- Language
- EN