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Designing a Meta-Structure for the Tailoring of large deformation Composites
A foldable composite meta-structure shall be designed and manufactured to enable a tailoring of folding as well as deployment behaviour of a deployable structure. The research shall proof the possibility to combine anisotropy of composites with geometrical patterns to improve structure performance.
Keywords: Meta-Structure, Composites, Tailoring, Tuning, Design and Manufacturing, Deployable Structures, Thin-ply composites, high strain composites
Due to their high specific strength and stiffness, fiber reinforced structures are commonly used in high-performance applications. Their ability to be manufactured in thicknesses around 100μm makes them especially interesting in the field of deployable structures.
Modern deployable structures are mainly used for the folding and deployment of satellites to reduce the stowage volume in a launcher vehicle. However these structures also get a rising interest in medical application for example in the field of heart stents.
Fulfilling certain folding and deployment schemes requires very small radii of curvature in the folded structure. The stiff fibers however only withstand small strain in the range of 1-2%. Besides reducing the layup thickness, fiber angle variations and patch-layup techniques can be used to reduce the minimum foldable radii and hence increase the packaging efficiency. These methods reach certain limits in manufacturability, which creates the need to new approaches in the design of those structures.
Besides the exploitation of the anisotropy in composites there are other options to increase foldability and tailor the deployment behavior. Recent advancements in meta-structures research allows to increase the deformability and control the deployment by changing the local geometry of the part (by exploiting the use of auxetic structures for example). The ability to addition-ally change the layup in those region opens up new possibilities which haven’t been exploited yet. However, the combination of thin composites with these integrated structures states challenges in terms of predictability and requires innovative approaches for manufacturability. The gained knowledge can be applied to various fields, where high deformations and at the same time high stiffness are required. This can be found in deployable space structures or biomedical applications.
Due to their high specific strength and stiffness, fiber reinforced structures are commonly used in high-performance applications. Their ability to be manufactured in thicknesses around 100μm makes them especially interesting in the field of deployable structures. Modern deployable structures are mainly used for the folding and deployment of satellites to reduce the stowage volume in a launcher vehicle. However these structures also get a rising interest in medical application for example in the field of heart stents. Fulfilling certain folding and deployment schemes requires very small radii of curvature in the folded structure. The stiff fibers however only withstand small strain in the range of 1-2%. Besides reducing the layup thickness, fiber angle variations and patch-layup techniques can be used to reduce the minimum foldable radii and hence increase the packaging efficiency. These methods reach certain limits in manufacturability, which creates the need to new approaches in the design of those structures. Besides the exploitation of the anisotropy in composites there are other options to increase foldability and tailor the deployment behavior. Recent advancements in meta-structures research allows to increase the deformability and control the deployment by changing the local geometry of the part (by exploiting the use of auxetic structures for example). The ability to addition-ally change the layup in those region opens up new possibilities which haven’t been exploited yet. However, the combination of thin composites with these integrated structures states challenges in terms of predictability and requires innovative approaches for manufacturability. The gained knowledge can be applied to various fields, where high deformations and at the same time high stiffness are required. This can be found in deployable space structures or biomedical applications.
The Thesis should be able to proof the concept of tunable folding and deployment of thin composite structures with Meta-Structure hinges, using FEM models and experimental validation. This covers:
• Literature research on (auxetic) meta-structures and their tailorability, deployable structures and thin composites
• Choice/Design of a deployable meta-structure which can be integrated in a common structure
• Proof of concept with preliminary experiments
• Manufacturing of a composite demonstrator to validate the design
• Exploit the tunability of the deployment behavior
• Capture and validate the behavior with a FEM-Modell (Master Thesis)
The Thesis should be able to proof the concept of tunable folding and deployment of thin composite structures with Meta-Structure hinges, using FEM models and experimental validation. This covers:
• Literature research on (auxetic) meta-structures and their tailorability, deployable structures and thin composites
• Choice/Design of a deployable meta-structure which can be integrated in a common structure
• Proof of concept with preliminary experiments
• Manufacturing of a composite demonstrator to validate the design
• Exploit the tunability of the deployment behavior
• Capture and validate the behavior with a FEM-Modell (Master Thesis)
ETH Zürich
Arthur Schlothauer
LEE O 225
Leonhardstrasse 21
8092 Zürich
ETH Zürich Arthur Schlothauer LEE O 225 Leonhardstrasse 21 8092 Zürich