Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Solar Panels Deployment with Tape Spring Hinges Having Nonlinear Hysteresis with Friction Compensation

In this work, experimental and numerical investigation on the deployment of solar panels with tape spring (TS) hinges showing complex nonlinear hysteresis behavior caused by the snap-through buckling was conducted. Subsequently, it was verified by comparing simulation results by multi-body dynamics (MBD) analysis with test results on ground-based deployment testing considering gravity compensation, termed zero-gravity (Zero-G) device. It has been difficult to predict the folding and unfolding behavior of TS hinges because their moment–rotation relationship showed a nonlinear hysteresis behavior. To realize this attribute, an algorithm that checks the sign of angular velocity of the revolute joints was used to distinguish folding from unfolding. The nonlinear hysteresis was implemented in terms of two path-dependent nonlinear moment–rotation curves with the aid of the expression function (a kind of user subroutine) in MBD software RecurDyn. Finally, it was found that the results of the deployment analysis were in excellent agreement with those of the test when the friction torques of the revolute joints were properly identified by an inverse analysis with the test frames, thus validating the MBD model.