Design and Characterization of a Trussed Collapsible Tubular Mast

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

We present a new design for a Solar Sail Tubular Mast (SSTM), a lightweight version of the Trussed Collapsible Tubular Mast (TCTM) previously designed by Opterus. The mast is designed as a tape-spring based truss, made of High Strain Composites, that is flattenable and rollable. Curvature in the longerons increase the buckling load, and the battens provide a partially closed cross-section thatincreases the torsional stiffness with respect to open designs. We performed finite element simulations to explore the effect of geometry (width of longerons and battens, number of battens) on the buckling load, with the goal of minimizing the weight of the boom. Following this numerical exploration, two prototypes have been fabricated and tested under axial compression and bending. The buckling modes extend over several bays, and repeated testing shows negligible permanent damage. The knockdown factor for both designs is provided. Rolling the boom to achieve the stowed configuration showed damage on a single batten, attributed to experimental errors.