抄録
Piecewise Straight Fold is proposed for large solar sail membranes to simultaneously realize the high packaging efficiency and the simple folding. The fold pattern is based on Spiral Fold to reduce the deviation of the fold line, which improve the packaging efficiency. In addition, the fold pattern consists of piecewise straight fold lines, which approximate the Spiral Fold line, in order to simplify the folding. A simple manufacturing process of Piecewise Straight Fold is developed based on the Z-fold membrane. The preliminary experimental results show the feasibility of the Piecewise Straight Fold and its simple manufacturing process, where the high packaging efficiency is also verified. The wrapping fold experiments for the solar power sail membrane is demonstrated by using the Piecewise Straight Fold. In the wrapping fold experiments, the applicability of the Piecewise Straight Fold to the solar power sail membrane is verified.
