Analysis of the bending behavior of a cable structure under microgravity

• The bending stiffness result of the FE simulation analysis is close to the bending stiffness obtained from Costello's model.
• Under microgravity environment, interactions among wires have little influence for the bending stiffness of cable structure.
• The greater the helix angle of the cable is, the more prone the structure is to instability.

A cable structure is composed of several wire strands wound together. Previously, the mechanical properties of cables mainly included withstanding axial tension and torsion. However, when applied in space deployable structures, the bending behavior of cables directly affects the dynamic response of deployment under the conditions of microgravity and zero tension. Existing cable bending models and their applicable conditions are assessed in this study. 1×7 cable structure models are established, and finite element analysis is conducted with ABAQUS. Equivalent bending modulus is obtained at different helix angles of the cable models. The effects of contact and friction among the strands are analyzed. The calculated and theoretical results from existing models are compared.