CONFIGURATION ANALYSIS OF HYBRID METAL BI-STABLE COMPOSITES

The bi-stable cylindrical shell is a thin-walled composite structure with a specific angle layup, which has two stable configurations and can maintain the unfolded state and the curled state without external constraints. This structure has the advantages of a simple curling storage device, a reliable unfolding process, and high storage efficiency, and has great application potential in space-deployable structures. In this paper, based on bi-stable composite materials, a method is proposed to change the deformation shape of the structure by mixing metals, to adjust the deformation characteristics of the structure to meet the needs of practical applications. The addition of metal layers to a bistable composite structure can alter the conformational curvature and also achieve the need for electrical and thermal conductivity. Here the mechanical properties of the mixed-metal bistable structure are simulated and analyzed by the finite element method. The results of this paper show that the addition of metals in different positions of the composite has a great influence on the two stable forms of the bi-stable structure.