SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT OF DEPLOYMENT PROCESS OF INFLATABLE Z-FOLDED TUBES

The inflatable deployment tube is a basic supportcomponent of space inflatable structures, and a Z-folded configuration isone of the basic folding ways of the inflatable deployment tube ofthe inflatable solar array discussed in this paper. A model of segments inflatable controlvolume for deployment process of inflatable tubes is proposed. Theinflatable deployment of the Z-folded tube is simulated by finite elementmethod under zero gravity condition. The variations of the volume and pressurein each folded segment are analyzed. Influence of inflation rate ondeployment dynamic characteristics is discussed, and compared with thosein literature. An inflatable deployment experiment on an air track isconducted. The results demonstrate that variations of inflation rate have agreat influence on the deployment process, and increasing the reductionfactor of the inflation rate can decrease the impact force action of the tube atthe full deployment.