New composite booms prevent catastrophic deployment failures in space missions!
Composite deployable booms made of fiber reinforced polymer are being studied to prevent a deployment failure called 'blossoming'. This happens when the boom unwinds too much under heavy loads. By using compression rollers, the boom can be controlled better. Researchers used an energy method to predict how much force the boom can handle before blossoming. They compared their predictions with real tests and looked at how different materials and shapes affect the boom's behavior.