Adaptive Inflatable Structures with Shape Memory Alloy Actuators

摘要

Inflated membrane structures have been increasingly studied for the space applications such as large optical or communicational instruments due to their very low weight and cost. Surface distortion of the structure may be easily induced by boundary conditions, thickness variations, wrinkling, thermal distortions, membrane inflation level, and surface roughness in the membrane material itself. So, the reliable maintenance of the shape or surface precision during the operation is one of the most important technologies for the development of inflatable structures. In this paper, the feasibility to maintain the desired configuration and to prevent the wrinkling growth of the inflatable structures using shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators is numerically and experimentally investigated.