Bistable behaviour of deployable composite boom with central flat region

This paper studies a new bistable deployable composite boom (Bi-DCB) with central flat region, and it can realize bistable function by storing and releasing strain energy, which has a good application prospect in engineering field. The bistable behaviour of the Bi-DCB with central flat region was investigated through analytical, experimental and numerical methods. Based on the minimum energy principle and three failure criteria, an analytical model for predicting the bistable behaviour of the Bi-DCB with central flat region was developed, including the strain energy, geometric configuration, bistable criterion and stress level. Using the vacuum bag method, a specimen was prepared and the bistable experiment was conducted. In addition, a Finite Element Model (FEM) was presented to model the bistable deformation process of the Bi-DCB with central flat region. Analytical results agreed well with experimental and numerical results. At last, the influence of geometric parameters on the bistable behaviour of the Bi-DCB with central flat region was further investigated with the aid of the analytical model.