Folding analysis for thin-walled deployable composite boom

Thin-walled deployable composite structures with high strain ability are of considerable interest and increasingly used in aerospace field due to their superior mechanical behaviour and folding function. This paper seeks to investigate large folding deformation behaviour of a thin-walled deployable composite boom (DCB) made of high strain carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastics fabricated by vacuum-bag and co-bonding technologies. Large deformation function tests are conducted to determine tensile, compression and folding behaviours of the DCB. Geometrically nonlinear, explicit and standard, finite element models and an analytical model are implemented to characterize the tensile and compression behaviours of the DCB, and the deviations of predictions from experiments are in an acceptable scatter. Furthermore, a geometrically nonlinear and explicit finite element model is also generated for folding analysis of the DCB, and a good correlation between predictions and experiments has been achieved.