INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS FOR SPACE SYSTEMS AND LAUNCH SYSTEMS COST REDUCTION

THE EFFORT PROPOSED HEREIN WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPING AND UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANT DESIGN PARAMETERS OF A COMPACT/HIGHLY EXPANDABLE, LIGHT WEIGHT STRUCTURAL WEAVED JOINT WHICH CAN BE EMPLOYED INEXPENSIVELY AS A BASIC CONSTRUCTION ELEMENT FOR OPERATIONS IN SPACE. A 12" DIAMETER PROTOTYPE IS AVAILABLE AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THIS PROPOSAL IF REQUESTED. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE USE OF THIS STRUCTURAL WEAVE FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS WILL PROVIDE HIGH ECONOMIC RETURN THROUGH COST SAVINGS IN PAYLOAD REDUCTION, MINIMIZED STORAGE/TRANSPORT VOLUME, HIGHLY EXPANDING STRUCTURES WITH POTENTIALLY HIGH LOAD CARRYING CAPACITIES AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT WITHOUT MECHANICAL ASSEMBLY IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THIS EFFORT FOCUSES UPON UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICAL/STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF TWO SELECTED STRUCTURAL WOVEN UNITS. FOUR (EIGHT TO 12 FOOT DIAMETER) ALUMINUM PTOTOTYPES WILL BE FABRICATED AND STUDIED. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THESE STRUCTURES WILL THEN BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE FORCE-DEFLECTION-STRESS RELATIONSHIPS AND CONSTRAINING TECHNIQUES. A FINAL REPORT AND (OPTIONALLY) TWO PROTOTYPES WILL BE DELIVERED.