Shape Memory Composites And Their Extension Arms

Shape memory polymer(SMP)is able to recover to initial shape under the excitation of heat,electricity,magnetism or other external conditions.Shape memory composite(SMC)has the advantages of high specific strength,high specific modulus,damp,and controllable deployment,which endow it with broad prospect in space deployable structure.With homemade shape memory testing device,the relationship was studied,which refer to SMP/SMC deploying & stowing properties with related factors.Deploying & stowing properties include fixation rate,recovery rate,and recovery time.Related factors cover recovery temperature,thickness,bending radius,bending times,ply orientation,and reinforcement.Then,with ABAQUS,finite element simulation of SMC deploying process has been carried out.The relationship between moment and deploying angle was obtained.Deploying moment of SMC was measured,which verified the simulation results.Finally,based on these results,SMC tube was fabricated according to process formulated.A heating & driving mechanism was designed and realized.SMC prototype boom was manufactured,which passed deploying test.In this paper,a new shape memory epoxy and its composites were investigated.Regularities of deploying & stowing properties with various factors were revealed.SMC prototype boom was designed and manufactured,which achieved deploying.The experimental results show that the shape memory epoxy and its composites have good fixation & recovery performance,which bring about repeatable and stable deploying and stowing.