Performance analysis of a damage tolerant composite self-deployable elastic-hinge

Self-deployable composite structures are interesting for the space industry as they efficiently use the space available, are lightweight, and have simple deployment systems. Usually, the design of these structures balances two opposing demands: increasing the structural stiffness to meet natural frequencies and/or pointing accuracy requirements and increasing the flexibility to enable stowage. However, most of these structures perform a single deployment sequence once in orbit. This article discusses the use of a damage tolerant design, allowing damage initiation during the stowage process in exchange for the capability of meeting more demanding requirements. A Genetic Algorithm is used to maximize the natural frequency of two elastic-hinge designs: one constrained to function in the elastic regime, and the other allowed a limited damage initiation during stowage. Their performance is compared based on the first natural frequency obtained, considering the deleterious effect of the damage initiation in the structural stiffness.