Investigation on the Residue Gas Inflation Technique for Space Borne Inflatable Boom with Different Folding Patterns

Abstract

Background

The last two decades have seen a growing trend toward the use of inflatable membranes for spaceborne structures. The spaceborne inflatable membrane structures are the promising solution for the compact and lightweight reflector antenna. The inflation technique is used for pressurizing the inflatable membrane structure once the satellite reaches to its predefined orbit.

Objective

The objective of the study is to demonstrate the use of the residue gas inflation technique for the complete deployment of the inflatable thin membrane boom with different folding patterns. The study also aims to find out generalized relation to calculate the safe mass of residue gases to be kept inside spaceborne membrane boom.

Method

The novel analytical relation for the safe mass of residue gases that can be carried for any size of the inflatable boom is established. A comparative study is performed to investigate the effect of variation in a folding pattern on the proposed inflation technique. Experimental, numerical, and analytical approaches were employed for the proposed study.

Result

The results show that the total inflation time is inversely proportional to the mass of the residue gases. Through the comparative study, it has been observed that the change in the inflation time is negligible for different folding patterns with the same mass of residue gas. The result confirms that the safe mass of residue gas is successfully deploying the inflatable boom in the vacuum environmental condition keeping the stresses in the boom in the tolerance limit.

Conclusions

The findings of this research provide insights into a simple and cost-effective design solution for the inflation system along with safe mass of the residue gases which can be used for any size of spaceborne inflatable boom.