Design and testing of inflatable gravity-gradient booms in space Show others and affiliations
2020 (English) In: CEAS Space Journal, ISSN 1868-2502, E-ISSN 1868-2510, Vol. 12, no 1, p. 33-41Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Inflatable space structures have many advantages such as small size, high reliability, and low cost. Aiming at a gravity-gradient boom for an XY-1 satellite, New Technology Verifying Satellite-1, a slender inflatable boom with low magnetic is presented. First of all, an inflatable boom with six self-supporting thin shells made of carbon and Vectran fiber composite materials on the inner wall was designed for eliminating a magnetic dipole moment and increasing structural stiffness. A precise stowage was designed for a tip mass surrounded by a pair of lightweight honeycomb blocks added on the top of the boom. The stowed boom was tested by sine sweep vibrations with three directions on the ground to verify the reasonable design. The XY-1 satellite which carried the inflatable boom was launched into low orbit. After being stowed state in space for at least 6 months, the inflatable boom orderly unfolded a 2.0 kg tip mass to 3.0 m away in May, 2013. The inflatable boom was successfully deployed from a series of photographs received on the satellite. The results show that this kind of lightweight inflatable boom with self-supporting thin shells can orderly unfold and fulfil the function of gravity-gradient in space for a long time.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages SPRINGER WIEN , 2020. Vol. 12, no 1, p. 33-41
Keywords [en]
Inflatable booms, Self-surpporting thin-shells, Deployable, Vibration
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-269048 DOI: 10.1007/s12567-019-00256-w ISI: 000512094900003 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85066471469 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-269048 DiVA, id: diva2:1413495
Note QC 20200310
2020-03-102020-03-102022-06-26 Bibliographically approved