Accommodating Thickness in Origami Based Deployable Arrays1

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to develop approaches to accommodate thickness in origamibased deployable arrays with a high ratio of deployedtostowed diameter. The origami flasher model serves as a basis for demonstrating the approach. A thicknessaccommodating mathematical model is developed to describe the flasher. Practical modifications are presented for the creation of physical models and two options are proposed: allowing the panels to fold along their diagonals or applying a membrane backing with specified widths at foldlines. The mathematical model and hardware modifications are employed to create several physical models. The results are general and apply to a range of applications. An example is provided by the application that motivated the work: a deployable solar array for space applications. The model is demonstrated in hardware as a 1/20th scale prototype with a ratio of deployedtostowed diameter of 9.2 (or 1.25 m deployed outer diameter to 0.136 m stowed outer diameter).