<p>Composite materials have been invented and used to make all kinds of industrial products, such as automobiles, aircraft, sports equipment etc., for many years. Excellent properties such as high specific stiffness and strength have been recognized and studied for decades, motivating the use of composite materials. However, the design of composite structures still remains a challenge. Existing design tools are not adequate to exploit the full benefits of composites. Many tools are still based on the traditional material selection paradigm created for isotropic homogeneous materials, separated from the shape design. This will lose the coupling effects between composite materials and the geometry and lead to less optimum design of the structure. Hence, due to heterogeneity and anisotropy inherent in composites, it is necessary to model composite parts with appropriate microstructures  instead of simplistically replacing composites as black aluminum and consider materials and geometry at the same time.</p> <p><br></p> <p>This work mainly focuses on the design problems of complex material-structural systems through computational analyses. Complex material-structural systems are structures made of materials that have microstructures smaller than the overall structural dimension but still obeying the continuum assumption, such as fiber reinforced laminates, sandwich structures, and meta-materials, to name a few. This work aims to propose a new design-by-analysis framework based on the mechanics of structure genome (MSG), because of its capability in accurate and efficient predictions of effective properties  for different solid/structural models and three-dimensional local fields (stresses, strains, failure status, etc). The main task is to implement the proposed framework by developing new tools and integrating these tools into a complete design toolkit. The main contribution of this work is a new efficient high-fidelity design-by-analysis framework for complex material-structural systems.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The proposed design framework contains the following components. 1) MSG and its companion code SwiftComp is the theoretical foundation for structural analysis in this design framework. This is used to model the complex details of the composite structures. This approach provides engineers the flexibility to use different multiscale modeling strategies. 2) Structure Gene (SG) builder creates finite element-based model inputs for SwiftComp using design parameters defining the structure. This helps designers deal with realistic and meaningful engineering parameters directly without expert knowledge of finite element analysis. 3) Interface is developed using Python for easy access to needed data such as structural properties and failure status. This is used as the integrator linking all components and/or other tools outside this framework. 4) Design optimization methods and iteration controller are used for conducting the actual design studies such as parametric study, optimization, surrogate modeling, and uncertainty quantification. This is achieved by integrating Dakota into this framework. 5) Structural analysis tool is used for  computing global structural responses. This is used if an integrated MSG-based global analysis process is needed.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Several realistic design problems of composite structures are used to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed framework. Parameter study of a simple fiber reinforce laminated structure is carried out for investigating the following: comparing with traditional design-by-analysis approaches, whether the new approach can bring new understandings on parameter-response relations and because of new parameterization methods and more accurate analysis results. A realistic helicopter rotor blade is used to demonstrate the optimization capability of this framework. The geometry and material of composite rotor blades are optimized to reach desired structural performance. The rotor blade is also used to show the capability of strength-based design using surrogate models of sectional failure criteria. A thin-walled composite shell structure is used to demonstrate the capability of designing variable stiffness structures by steering in-plane orientations of fibers of the laminate. Finally, the tool is used to study and design auxetic laminated composite materials which have negative Poisson's ratios.</p>

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[pt] Estruturas reticuladas espaciais com grandes vãos são encontradas em uma variedade de aplicações em engenharia. Muitas dessas estruturas apresentam um comportamento eminentemente não linear, envolvendo tanto não linearidades físicas quanto geométricas, o que leva em muitos casos a múltiplas configurações de equilíbrio. Em particular, estruturas biestáveis estão usualmente sujeitas a instabilidades por ponto limite (snap-through), bifurcações simétrica instável ao longo do caminho não linear de equilíbrio, instabilidade elástica de elementos individuais, devido à plastificação destes elementos ou a interação destes fenômenos. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo a análise detalhada de duas classes de estruturas biestáveis: treliças piramidais (instabilidade indesejada) e estruturas ajustáveis com elementos de tesoura (instabilidade desejada). Ferramentas teóricas e computacionais são desenvolvidas para a investigação da influência das medidas de deformação quadrática e logarítmica, deformações elasto-plásticas e instabilidades na resposta estática e dinâmica não linear de um módulo de treliça piramidal. Uma formulação corrotacional em elementos finitos é proposta para descrever a ligação espacial flexível encontrada nas estruturas ajustáveis biestáveis aqui estudadas. A análise de estruturas com grandes vãos formadas pela junção de módulos de treliças piramidais ou módulos ajustáveis é apresentada. Os resultados obtidos mostram que a presença e interação das diversas fontes de instabilidade têm uma grande influência no comportamento destas estruturas e pode determinar ou não a sua viabilidade em aplicações práticas. / [en] Large span reticulated structures are applied in a variety of engineering applications. Many of these structures present a nonlinear behavior involving both geometric and material nonlinearities with multistable configurations. Particularly, bistable structures are often subjected to instability phenomena, such as snap-through and bifurcations of the whole structure, individual units or single bars. The present work, focuses on two classes of bistable structural systems: pyramidal trusses (undesired instability) and deployable scissor structures (desired design instability). Theoretical and computational tools are developed to investigate the influence of the strain measure, elasto-plastic deformations and instability phenomena on the nonlinear static and dynamic response of bistable pyramidal trusses. A compliant corrotational spatial joint finite element formulation with finite size is developed and applied to study bistable deployable scissor modules. The analysis of bistable large span structures formed by the assembly of modules is also carried out. It s shown that the presence and interaction of the studied buckling sources have deep influence on the systems behavior and can ultimately determine their viability in practical applications.

Rapidly assembled tent structures are temporary enclosures used to house people or goods. Their uses vary to include recreation, refugee housing, and military shelters. The structural concepts applied in these shelters are as variable as their uses. Some make use of a tensioned fabric and pole system to provide structural strength. Others have a load-bearing frame with attached fabric skin. Further variants make use of inflatable arches or consist of modular containers. Analysis of a number of different types of rapidly assembled tent structures reveals an area where innovation can occur. Conflicts in the last ten years suggest that rapidly assembled shelters for both military purposes and humanitarian relief have the greatest need for innovative solutions. Existing shelters used by the military lack the versatility and speed of deployment necessary in modern conflict. The lack of scalability in the designs makes it difficult to use an existing tent in different situations. They are slow to construct, heavy, and difficult to transport in large numbers. These problems suggest that there is a need for new shelters that better meet the needs of the military. The application of deployable structures technology meets military's needs for structures with the advantages of a small compacted volume, rapid assembly, and ease of deployment. This makes them ideal for application to shelter structures. The aim of this dissertation was to develop a new type of deployable, long-span shelter frame based upon tiled Bennett mechanisms. An overlapping combination of equilateral Bennett mechanisms yields a structure that opens into a half-cylinder shape, providing an enclosed space useful and applicable to the problem of deployable shelters. The specific application considered in the design portion of this process will be a long-span deployable shelter capable of housing military helicopters. This report details the development of the Bennett Shelter concept. Its deployed and compacted geometries are explored, and a procedure for determining structural properties and dimensions is presented. The full concept for the structure, from outer covering to foundation support is then detailed. Loads affecting the structure are determined, and the process of modelling and analysing the structure is then considered. Optimisation of the structure with respect to weight and serviceability requirements is conducted using a number of different materials, and full analysis of the optimal geometries is completed. As no method exists for evaluating the effect of imperfections on the deployment of overconstrained mechanisms, a procedure is derived. The effects of manufacturing imperfections on deployment of the Bennett mechanism are then explored using the method. A full examination of the variation of energy within the Bennett Shelter during deployment provides valuable insight into the performance of the structure. With the above analysis complete, it is shown that the Bennett Shelter is viable as a long-span deployable shelter.

Dans un contexte où l'utilisation de structures déployables s'est généralisée, le département Recherche de la société Thales Alenia Space étudie un nouveau concept de télescope spatial dont le miroir secondaire est déployé grâce au déroulement de six mètres rubans. Des études antérieures ont permis la mise au point d'un prototype constitué de rubans métalliques dont le déploiement s'est avéré trop violent. Dans ce travail de thèse nous proposons d'une part un nouveau type de ruban à la vitesse de déroulement maîtrisable et d'autre part un modèle original décrivant le comportement dynamique de tels rubans, permettant de mieux appréhender les phénomènes complexes pouvant intervenir lors de scénarios de pliage, de déploiement ou de déroulement. La solution envisagée pour contrôler la vitesse de déroulement repose sur l'exploitation des propriétés mécaniques d'une couche de matériau viscoélastique collée à la surface du ruban. Ces propriétés variant avec la température permettent de garantir un maintien de la position enroulée à froid et assurent un déroulement régulé grâce à un réchauffage localisé. Ces phénomènes ont été mis en évidence expérimentalement et numériquement. La lourdeur des méthodes classiques de modélisation et le manque de richesse des méthodes simplifiées nous ont conduit à développer un modèle de poutre à section fortement déformable permettant de décrire le comportement dynamique des rubans en grands déplacements. Partant d'un modèle de coque, l'originalité de la méthode repose essentiellement sur l'introduction d'une cinématique de type elastica pour décrire les grandes variations de forme de la section. Un modèle énergétique 1D est obtenu en intégrant dans la section et le problème est résolu à l'aide du logiciel de modélisation par éléments finis COMSOL. On propose finalement un modèle continu 1D à 4 paramètres cinématiques qui permet de rendre compte d'une large gamme de phénomènes intervenant dans des scénarios complexes de pliage, de déroulement et de déploiement dynamique. / The research department of Thales Alenia Space is studying new concepts of space telescopes whose secondary mirror is deployed thanks to the unreeling of six tape-springs. A breadboard using metallic tape-springs has been built during preliminary studies and has exhibited a deployment that is too energetic and induce too important shocks.In this thesis a new kind of tape-spring with a controlled uncoiling speed is introduced. Secondly a rod model with highly deformable thin-walled cross-sections describing the dynamic behaviour of tape-springs is derived.In order to over come the deployment speed of a tape spring, a viscoelastic layer is stuck on its sides. Thanks to its properties varying with the temperature, the viscoelastic layer is used to maintain the tape-spring in a coiled configuration at low temperature whereas a local heating leads to a controlled uncoiling. These phenomenons have been underlined experimentally and numerically.Because of the high complexity of classical shell models and the lack of details of simplified models, smart modelling methods need to be developed to describe the highly non linear behaviour of a tape-spring. A planar rod model with highly deformable thin-walled cross-sections that accounts for large displacements and large rotations in dynamics is proposed. Starting from a classical shellmodel, the main additional assumption consists in introducing an elastica kinematics to describe thelarge changes of the cross-section shape with very few parameters. The expressions of the strain andkinetic energies are derived by performing an analytical integration over the section. The Hamilton principle is directly introduced in a suitable finite element software to solve the problem. Several examples (folding, coiling and deployment of a tape spring) are studied through the FEM software COMSOL to demonstrate the ability of the 4-parameter model to account for several phenomena: creation of a single fold and associated snap-through behaviour, splitting of a fold into two, motion of a fold along the tape during a dynamic deployment, scenarios of coiling and uncoiling of a bistable tape-spring.

Ce travail a pour cadre une collaboration entre le LMA et Thales Alenia Space. Nous nous intéressons au comportement des structures flexibles et plus particulièrement des mètres rubans qui ont la particularité de pouvoir, grâce à l’aplatissement de la section, s’enrouler ou développer des pliages localisés. Une première thèse a permis d’une part la mise au point d’un nouveau type de mètre ruban au déroulement maîtrisable thermiquement et d’autre part le développement d’un modèle plan de poutre à section flexible. Dans le travail de thèse présenté ici, nous proposons une version étendue de ce modèle adaptée à la simulation du comportement dynamique tridimensionnel des mètres rubans en grands déplacements et en grandes rotations. Ce modèle est dérivé de la théorie des coques et repose sur l’introduction d’hypothèses cinématiques et sthéniques adaptées. La déformation de la section est caractérisée par celle de sa ligne moyenne qui peut se déformer dans son plan par flexion et torsion mais non par extension, ainsi que hors de son plan par gauchissement de torsion. Les fortes variations de forme de la section dans son plan peuvent alors être décrites par une cinématique de type Elastica, tandis qu’une cinématique de type Vlassov est utilisée pour définir le gauchissement dans le repère local attaché à la section. Le modèle unidimensionnel est obtenu par intégration sur la section des expressions de la théorie des coques, une approche énergétique permet ensuite de formuler le problème associé qui est résolu grâce au logiciel de modélisation par éléments finis COMSOL. / This work was carried out within the framework of a collaboration between the LMA and Thales Alenia Space. We focus on the behaviour of flexible structures and more specifically of tape springs, whose particularity lies in their capacity to coil up or to form localized folds through the flattening of their cross-section. A first thesis led to the development of a new type of tape spring whose uncoiling is controlled thermically on one hand and of a planar rod model with a flexible thin-walled cross-section on the other hand. In this thesis, we offer an extended version of this model dedicated to the simulation of three-dimensional dynamic behavior of tape springs in large displacements and large rotations. This model is derived from shell theory and is based on the introduction of adapted kinematic and sthenic hypotheses. The deformation of the cross-section is characterized by that of its average line which can deform in its own plane by flexion and twisting but not by extension, as well as out of its plane through torsional warping. The large changes of the cross-section shape in its plane can then be described by an Elastica kinematics, whereas a Vlassov kinematics is used to define the warping in the local frame attached to the section. The unidimensionnal model is obtained by integration over the cross-section of the expressions of the shell theory, an energetic approach then allows to express the associated problem which is solved thanks to the finite element modeling software COMSOL.

<p>  </p> <p>As space agencies look to conduct more scientific missions beyond Earth orbit, low-cost access to space becomes indispensable. Small satellites (smallsats) fulfill this need as they can be developed at a fraction of the cost of traditional large satellites. Consequently, smallsats are being envisioned for planetary science missions at several destinations including Mars. However, a significant challenge for interplanetary smallsats is performing fully-propulsive orbit insertion because modern smallsat propulsion technologies have limited total velocity change capabilities. At destinations with significant atmospheres, this challenge can be circumvented via <em>aerocapture</em>, a technique that uses a single atmospheric pass to convert a hyperbolic approach trajectory into a captured elliptical orbit. Aerocapture has been shown to enable significant propellant mass savings as compared to fully-propulsive orbit insertion, making it an attractive choice for smallsats. Performing aerocapture with smallsats requires a suitable vehicle design that satisfies the associated control requirements and volumetric constraints. To address this requirement, this dissertation proposes the <em>morphable entry system </em>(MES), a conceptual deployable entry vehicle that utilizes shape morphing to follow a desired atmospheric flight profile during aerocapture. The aerocapture performance of the MES at Mars is investigated using a six degree-of-freedom aerocapture simulation environment. The shape morphing strategy employed by the MES is shown to be feasible for targeting desired angle of attack and sideslip angle profiles that lead to successful orbit captures. Furthermore, the robustness of the MES to simulated day-of-flight uncertainties while employing angle of attack control is demonstrated through a Monte Carlo dispersion analysis. The major contributions of this research as well as areas of future work are described.</p>

Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have recently gained attention due to their increased ability to perform sophisticated missions with less cost and/or risk than their manned counterparts. This thesis develops approaches to the use of compliant mechanisms in the design of deployable wings for small UAVs. Although deployable wings with rigid-link mechanisms have been used in the past to maintain flight endurance while minimizing required storage volume, compliant mechanisms offer many advantages in manufacturability and potential space savings due to function sharing of components. A number of compliant, deployable wing concepts are generated and a classification system for them is formed. The pool of generated concepts serves as a basis for stimulating future concept ideas. A methodology is also proposed for evaluating concepts for a given application. The approach to developing compliant designs for certain applications is illustrated through two example designs, which demonstrate key portions of the proposed design process. Each is modeled and analyzed to demonstrate viability.

In a quest to design novel deployable structures, flexible polyhedra provide interesting insights. This work follows the discovery of flexible polyhedra and aims to make flexible polyhedra more useful. The dissertation describes how flexible polyhedra can be made. The flexible polyhedra first considered in this dissertation have a rotational degree of freedom. The range of this rotational movement is measured and maximised in this work by numerical maximisation. All polyhedra are established computationally: an iterative solution method is used to find vertex coordinates; several clash detecting methods are described to define whether each rotational position of a flexible polyhedron is physically possible; then a range of motion is defined between occurrences of clashes at the two ends; finally, an optimisation tool is used to maximise the range of motion. By using these tools, the range of motion of two types of simplest flexible polyhedra are maximised. The first type is a series of flexible polyhedra generalised from the Steffen flexible polyhedron. The range of motion of this type is improved to double that of Steffen’s original, from 27° to 59°. Another type of flexible polyhedron is expanded from a model provided by Tachi. Based on the understanding of Steffen’s flexible polyhedron, optimisation parameters are carefully given. This new type has achieved a wider range of motion, so now the range of motion of flexible polyhedron is tripled to 80°. After enlarging the range of motion of the degree of freedom in the 1-dof systems, the dissertation found multiple degrees of freedom in one polyhedron. The multiple mechanisms can be even repetitive, so that an n-dof polyhedron is found. A polyhedron of two degrees of freedom is first presented. Then, a unit cell for any number of mechanisms is found. As a repetitive structure, a 3-dof polyhedron is presented. Finally, this work presents the possibility of configuring a flexible polyhedral torus and a closed polyhedral surface that is able to flex without the need to stop.