Modeling large pneumatic reflectors based on innovative materials

Abstract

Large pneumatic structures of deploying space reflector are highly efficient and significantly advantageous due to the following reasons: significant coverage at low material usage and deployment simplicity. At the same time experimental modeling of such structures is time-consuming and costly. So, numerical analysis of such structures is very important in preliminary design. This paper presents the mathematical problem statement of stress-strain state of pneumatic structures, as well as the modal analysis results for two pneumatic reflectors of 50 and 100 meters in size applying such materials as Kevlar and thin polyamide films. The above described problems were solved by well-known nonlinear finite element method.