A planar rod model with flexible cross-section for the folding and the dynamic deployment of tape springs: Improvements and comparisons with experiments

A planar rod model with flexible cross-section has been recently proposed in literature (Guinot et al., 2012). This model is especially suitable for the modeling of tape springs, which develop localized folds due to the flattening of the cross-section. Starting from a complete non-linear elastic shell model, original kinematics assumptions (inspired from the elastica model) have been made to describe the important in-plane changes of the cross-section shape. In the present work, the choice of the position of the rod reference line is discussed. This choice plays an important role in the overall behavior because of the large changes of the cross-section shape. We show that the model published in Guinot et al. (2012) can be improved by considering the centerline as the rod reference line. This enhanced model is then validated through quantitative comparisons with experimental results of dynamic deployments taken from literature.