Preliminary test and analysis of an ultralight lenticular tube based on shape memory polymer composites

Abstract

Abstract Shape memory polymer composites (SMPCs) demonstrate the advantages of light weight, high strain rate, high strength, high stiffness, self-locking and self-deployment. In this study, the mechanical properties and deformation performance of SMPC-based lenticular tube are studied. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests and three-point bending tests were carried out to determine thermomechanical properties, and\u202f+45°/−45° fiber layout was chosen as the optimum layout. Tensile tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of SMPC at different temperature. The strain distribution during recovery process was obtained by digital image correlation (DIC) experiment. Bending and recovery process were simulated by finite element analysis, the stress distribution of curved state of lenticular tube were obtained. Comparing with traditional lenticular tube, SMPC-based lenticular tube exhibits the advantages of controllability and stability in deploying process, and they still work well after folding 30 deformation cycles. Due to its above advantages, several potential applications are proposed for deployable space structures and will be validated in near future.