Coupling between structural deformation and attitude motion of large planar space structures suspended by multi-tethers

A planar space structure suspended by multi-tethers is one candidate for large and lightweight structures. For such flexible structures, coupling phenomena between structural deformation and attitude motion must be considered. In the present paper, the dynamic characteristics of a planar structure suspended by multi-tethers are investigated. Simulation results reveal that the coupling occurs for low tether stiffness. In addition, it is shown that the coupling can also occur if a number of the tethers become slack. Thermal deformation of the planar structure is one cause of tether slack. Thermal deformation and the induced attitude motion are also investigated. It is shown that roll and yaw motions become unstable due to thermal deformation. Finally, we modify the condition of the connection between sub-panels in order to reduce the overall thermal deformation, and it is confirmed that large deformation can be inhibited by the modification.