Investigation of Geometric Imperfection in Inflatable Aerospace Structures

Communication and solar array inflated structures must be deployed to a very precise geometric configuration in order to meet quality requirements of their application. The focus of this paper is on geometric imperfections associated with inflated structures. To further understand some of the elements, that derive imperfection in a parabolic inflated communication and solar array structures, a computational model is proposed. This computational approach is dictated by the geometric complexity, deformation sensitivity as function of load and boundary conditions, and nonlinear characteristics of inflated structure assemblies. The deformation of a single component depends on the flexibility/stiffness of other components due to their interaction. In order to simulate such deformations of the multicomponent inflated structure, in the present study, the computational model consists of main parabolic shape envelope (reflector and canopy), torus, and catenary’s support and uses geometric nonlinear finite element....