Bionic Foldable Flexible Space Capsule and Its Working Method

Abstract

The present invention provides a bionic foldable flexible space capsule and its working method. The space capsule includes a split ellipsoid composed of a flexible inner layer and a rigid outer layer. Among them, the outer layer is evenly covered on the inner layer at intervals. When pressed inward, the inner layer folds radially inward and the outer layer closes. The stiffness ratio of the rigid flap to the flexible flap is 10 ‑6 :1, the circumferential angle ratio of the rigid flap to the flexible flap is 0.1:1, and the number of split flaps of the rigid flap to the flexible flap is 1:9. During folding, due to the pressure difference inside and outside the cabin, the inner layer shrinks inward until the outer layer tightly covers the surface, reducing the volume. The present invention adopts a bionic folding method, with a simple structure. The folding process reduces damage to the material, and the cabin can be repeatedly folded and inflated. Moreover, the volume can be controlled during inflation and deployment, making it suitable for cabin bodies with different shapes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of bionic mechanics and spacecraft, and specifically to a bionic foldable flexible spacecraft and its working method. Background Art

[0002] Currently, most of the manned spacecrafts in orbit are mainly rigid metal cabins. Due to the large structural mass, large volume, high launch cost, difficult in-orbit assembly of the large rigid sealed cabin, and being restricted by the rocket launch envelope, its structure is designed compactly, and the effective space is narrow, resulting in many important scientific experiments being difficult to carry out smoothly, and astronauts can only rest standing up. Therefore, it is increasingly difficult to meet the needs of future deep space exploration development. The foldable flexible spacecraft has the advantages of light weight, high folding and unfolding efficiency, high space utilization rate, high reliability, and simple engineering implementation. The skin material system of the inflatable cabin body is composed of multiple layers of flexible composite materials (such as films or fabrics), mainly including an airtight layer (or gas barrier layer), a reinforcement layer (or structural layer, restraint layer), a micrometeoroid / orbital debris protection layer and a radiation protection layer, as well as multiple layers of thermal insulation layers. Whether in terms of mass or space utilization, the inflatable cabin body has more prominent advantages than the rigid metal cabin body. Conducting research on large inflatable deployable cabin bodies is one of the best ways to solve the contradiction between the current low launch capacity and the rapidly growing space missions. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a bionic foldable flexible spacecraft and its working method, which adopts a bionic folding method, has a simple structure, reduces damage to materials during the folding process, and can repeatedly fold and inflate the cabin body, and the volume can be controlled during inflation and deployment, and is applicable to cabin bodies with different shapes.

[0004] A bionic foldable flexible spacecraft, characterized in that: it includes a split ellipsoid composed of a flexible inner layer and a rigid outer layer, wherein the outer layer is evenly covered on the inner layer at intervals, and when pressed inward, the inner layer folds radially inward and the outer layer closes.

[0005] Further improvement, the stiffness ratio of the outer layer to the inner layer is 10 -6 :1.

[0006] Further improvement, the circumferential angle ratio of the outer layer to the inner layer is 0.1:1.

[0007] Further improvement, the number of split petals of the outer layer is 9.

[0008] Further improvement, the outer layer and the inner layer are connected by riveting.

[0009] The working method of the bionic foldable flexible spacecraft provided by the present invention includes a folding process and an inflation process.

[0010] When folded, the inner layer folds radially inward and the outer layer closes up;

[0011] When inflated, the inner layer expands outward to separate the outer layer, and finally the outer layer fully unfolds into a complete cabin configuration.

[0012] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0013] 1. Adopting a bionic folding method, the structure is simple, and the folding process reduces damage to the material.

[0014] 2. It can fold and inflate the cabin repeatedly, and the volume can be controlled during inflation and deployment, which is suitable for cabins with different shapes. Description of the Drawings

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required to be used in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 is a sectional view of the present invention in the deployed state;

[0017] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the outer layer and the inner layer in the deployed state;

[0018] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the folding process;

[0019] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the pollen grain structure of Euphorbia milii;

[0020] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the finite element simulation results of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0021] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] The present invention discloses a bionic design of a deployable flexible space cabin based on the bionic principle of the pollen grain folding mode. The foldable flexible space cabin is a split ellipsoid, composed of flexible petals, rigid petals, a protective layer, etc. The flexible petals and the rigid petals are spaced apart and are evenly distributed overall to form the cabin. The stiffness ratio of the rigid petals to the flexible petals is 10 -6:1. The circumferential angle ratio of the rigid petals to the flexible petals is 0.1:1, and the number of divided petals of the rigid petals to the flexible petals is 1:9. When folding, due to the pressure difference inside and outside the cabin, the inner layer shrinks inward until the outer layer tightly covers the surface, reducing the volume.

[0023] The segmented ellipsoidal spacecraft cabin is divided into rigid petals and flexible petals. When the structure folds, due to different rigidities, the flexible petals fold and shrink inward, causing the rigid petals to gather inward. When folding the spacecraft cabin, the radial volume shrinks, and the axial height increases slightly.

[0024] As Figure 1 shown, the inflatable foldable spacecraft cabin structure of the present invention is a segmented ellipsoid, composed of flexible petals and rigid petals. The flexible petals and rigid petals are spaced apart, and are riveted between the flexible petals and rigid petals, and are evenly distributed overall to form the cabin.

[0025] As Figure 2 shown, when the inflatable cabin unfolds, the thickness of the rigid petals is greater than that of the flexible petals, and the flexible petals can be made of and the rigidity of the rigid petals is greater than that of the flexible petals.

[0026] As Figure 3 shown, when the inflatable cabin folds, the flexible petals gather and shrink towards the center of the circle, causing the rigid petals connected to them to also shrink inward. When the spacecraft cabin is completely folded, the outer layer gathers inward, and the axial height of the cabin increases slightly. When the cabin is completely folded, the rigid petals close together to form a complete configuration.

[0027] The bionic effect of the present invention comes from the pollen grain structure of Euphorbia milii, as Figure 4 shown.

[0028] Perform finite element simulation on the bionic foldable flexible spacecraft cabin provided by the present invention as Figure 5 shown. Under the same pressure, the circumferential angle ratios of the rigid petals to the flexible petals from left to right are 3, 2, 1 respectively, and the rigidity ratios of the rigid petals to the flexible petals are all 500.

[0029] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner. For the same or similar parts between each embodiment, reference can be made to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the device embodiments, the above description is only the preferred implementation manner of the present invention. Since it is basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple. For the relevant parts, reference can be made to the partial description of the method embodiments. The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. For any person skilled in the art in the technical field disclosed by the present invention, for those of ordinary skill in the technical field, changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of without departing from the principle of the present invention should all be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A bionic foldable flexible space capsule, characterized in that: It includes a split ellipsoid composed of a flexible inner layer and a rigid outer layer. Among them, the outer layer evenly covers the inner layer at intervals. When squeezed inward, the inner layer folds radially inward and the outer layer closes up; the stiffness ratio of the outer layer to the inner layer is 10 -6 :1; the ratio of the circumferential angles occupied by the outer layer to the inner layer is 0.1:

1.

2. The bionic foldable flexible space capsule according to claim 1, wherein: The number of outer-layer lobes is 9.

3. The bionic foldable flexible space capsule according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer layer and the inner layer are connected by riveting.

4. A working method of a bionic foldable flexible space capsule, which adopts the bionic foldable flexible space capsule described in claim 1, and is characterized in that: It includes a folding process and an inflation process; During folding, the inner layer folds radially inward and the outer layer closes up; During inflation, the inner layer expands outward to separate the outer layer, and finally the outer layer fully unfolds into a complete cabin configuration.

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