Deployable Truss Using Shape Memory Alloy for Structural Strength and Low Stowage Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional deployable trusses face challenges in achieving a balance between structural strength and lightweight design, particularly in large-scale solar array applications, where they need to be both rigid to support structures and flexible to collapse and deploy without adding weight through attachments or actuation.
Innovation Solution
A deployable truss design incorporating rigid components for structural support and flexible components that allow for deployment and collapse, featuring extendable diagonals and nodes that provide both rigidity and flexibility, enabling the truss to transition between stowed and deployed configurations efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid members are used to support the structure, then structural strength is improved, but weight increases due to attachments or actuation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and mechanical properties of the truss members by using shape memory alloys that can transition between rigid and flexible states. This allows the same members to provide structural strength when rigid and enable deployment when flexible, eliminating the need for separate attachment mechanisms and reducing overall weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite structures combining shape memory alloy materials with traditional truss components. This composite approach allows the truss to exhibit both rigid load-bearing characteristics and flexible deployment capabilities through the phase transition properties of the shape memory alloy, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
2Adaptability or versatility
If flexible components are used to permit deployment, then deployability is improved, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic properties to the truss members through shape memory alloys that can actively transition between flexible and rigid states. This dynamic capability allows the structure to be flexible during deployment and rigid during operation, achieving both deployability and structural strength without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the temperature or stress parameters of the shape memory alloy members, the patent enables the truss to transition from a flexible deployed state to a rigid operational state. This parameter change allows the same components to fulfill both deployment and structural support functions.
3Strength
If rigid members are used, then structural integrity is improved, but stowage volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses dynamically controllable rigid members with shape memory alloy properties that can transition between extended and collapsed configurations. This allows the truss to achieve full structural integrity when deployed while maintaining a compact stowage volume, as the same members that provide rigidity can also be made flexible for compression during stowage.
4Adaptability or versatility
If attachments or actuation are added to enable deployment, then deployability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs shape memory alloy members that can autonomously transition between rigid and flexible states in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature changes. This self-service capability eliminates the need for complex external actuation systems, attachments, or control mechanisms, achieving deployability while minimizing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A truss is disclosed in which rigid longitudinal members define a frame and flexible connecting members permit the truss to collapse into a stowed configuration or expand into a deployed configuration.