Abstract: The ongoing development of ultra-thin fiber-reinforced composite shells is facilitating the replacement of rigid trusses and hinged mechanisms in deployable space structures. These elastically coilable and foldable composite shells can be stowed into highly deformed states and self-deploy through the release of stored strain energy. They offer compelling design solutions to efficiently packaging and deploying a wide range of engineered space systems including solar arrays, reflectors, solar sails, and antennas. This seminar will address recent challenges associated with the stability and dynamics of these deployable structures, as well as exercising control to prevent incomplete expansion or damage. Coiled and folded packaging schemes that combine locally deformed regions with varying degrees of stability are explored for mitigating disordered deployment. Alternatively, flexible piezocomposite actuators actively manipulate the local shape of composite shells to either initiate uncoiling deployment or suppress the prolonged unfolding motion that arises from localized buckling, snap-through events, and propagating instabilities.
Bio: Dr. Andrew Lee is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University. He received his B.S.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan and was a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. His research focuses on the mechanics of lightweight space structures including problems related to packaging, deployment, stability, and active control.
Host: Ishan Barman