Abstract
Space inflatable structures must be deployed under stable conditions to maintain the deployment reliability. A simple deployment control method is required for lightweight and easily foldable inflatable structures. This paper deals with the deployment uniformity of inflatable tubes with folding crease patterns. The polygon foldings are proposed for simple folding method of inflatable tubes to deploy under the uniform condition. Two types of non-rigidizable inflatable tube with hexagonal and octagonal folding and four types of rigidizable inflatable tube with hexagonal folding are manufactured as the test articles. Surface condition of the rigidized membrane and accuracy of the inflatable tube after rididization completion are evaluated by observation and measurement. The deployment test is conducted under gravity condition to estimate the deployment uniformity of each folding method. It is clarified that the deployment uniformity of inflatable tubes with proposed polygon folding is within 5 to 6% from the deployment experiment.
