Low-Shock Release Mechanism with Structural Function

"The development of a multi-functional system for release or jettisoning of structures on launch vehicles and spacecraft is proposed. The system acts as both a release mechanism and as a structural component of an assembly prior to release. The primaryinnovation is the use of a high-strength adhesive, recently developed at EIC Laboratories, that is rapidly disbonded from a metallic surface by the application of a low-current voltage to the adhesive-substrate bondline. This electrically disbondingfunction allows the design of delatching and deployment mechanisms that consume very little power and avoids the extensive use of pyrotechnics or other high-energy sources for separating mechanical components. Advantages of the system include: reducedvibration, shock, and pyrotechnic contamination when jettisoning large structures such as fairings; reduced weight, volume and power consumption relative to paraffin-based or shape-memory-alloy thermal or motor-driven delatching mechanisms; and greaterflexibility in the design of space structures and launch vehicles. In Phase I, a low-outgassing version of the adhesive will be developed and incorporated into release mechanisms. The functional performance of the release mechanisms will be evaluated andthe pre-launch, launch, and space-environment stability and disbonding properties of the adhesive determined. Commercial applications in DoD, NASA and commercial launch vehicles and satellites are ant