Simulations on SAM deployment progressing

For the last couple of weeks, simulations on the deployment behaviour of the inflating spheres from the StrathSat-R REXUS cube satellites were carried out. LS-DYNA with an academic license of the University of Strathclyde was used for the deployment simulation. Two rows of 18 spheres were modelled with a constrained rigid cube satellite in the centre. To simulate the deployment from the cube, the flat spheres (two sheets of polymer joined together around their circumference) where pressed into the cube satellite first. After the spheres were stored, the residual air inflation deploys the entire structure. This “chaotic” storage followed by the residual air inflation can be seen in the attached clip. Current research is now focused on modelling different folding pattern in LS-DYNA and starting a code to program the shape change of the membrane.