Compact Packaging of Planar Gossamer Space Structures Using Textile Membranes

Abstract

This paper clarifies the mechanism of significantly improved compact storage of membrane space structures where plain-woven textiles are used as the base membrane. Membrane space structures can be multifunctional by attaching various thin-film devices onto their surface; however, the non-negligible thickness of the devices should be accommodated to achieve compact storage. In this study, small scale models made of membranes with dummy thin-film devices are stored to show two significant aspects. Firstly, textile membranes can be stored more compactly and uniformly than polymer films, because of the movement of layers caused by the flexibility of the textile. Secondly, the locations of the movement between membrane layers to absorb the thickness effect differ depending on the fiber orientation of the textile.