High strain deployable interleaved composite flexures
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Almuslmani, Majed
Santer, Matthew
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This study explores the enhancement of high-strain composite flexures by interleaving carbon fiber composite with thermoplastic materials. The flexure significantly loses its stiffness when heated beyond the glass transition temperature of the interleaf material, and it is easily deformed. Upon cooling, the flexure retains its deformed configuration and can recover its original shape upon reheating. Despite the constituent materials lacking inherent shape memory, this shape memory behavior, combined with substantial damping capacity, makes these flexures promising candidates for deployable structures in space applications, where controlled and gentle deployment with minimal risk is essential. A comprehensive finite element modeling and analysis procedure is developed to simulate the behavior of these high-strain composite flexures. The modeling process includes all the phases, stowage, freezing, and deployment, while incorporating the viscoelastic properties of the materials. Experimental tests confirmed the accuracy of the FE model in predicting the behavior of these flexures under different conditions.
Date Issued
2025-09-01
Date Acceptance
2025-07-22
Citation
Materials and Design, 2025, 257
ISSN
0264-1275
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Materials and Design
Volume
257
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by nc-nd/4.0/).
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
114448
Date Publish Online
2025-07-29