Dynamic Analysis and Parametric Optimization of Telescopic Tubular Mast Applied on Solar Sail

Abstract Large-scale solar sails can provide power to spacecraft for deep space exploration. A new type of telescopic tubular mast (TTM) driven by a bistable carbon fiber-reinforced polymer tube was designed in this study to solve the problem of contact between the sail membrane and the spacecraft under light pressure. Compared with the traditional TTM, it has a small size, light weight, high extension ratio, and simple structure. The anti-blossoming and self-unlocking structure of the proposed TTM was described. We aimed to simplify the TTM with a complex structure into a beam model with equal linear mass density, and the simulation results showed good consistency. The dynamic equation was derived based on the equivalent model, and the effects of different factors on the vibration characteristics of the TTM were analyzed. The performance parameters were optimized based on a multiobjective genetic algorithm, and prototype production and load experiments were conducted. The results show that the advantages of the new TTM can complete the deployment of large-scale solar sails, which is valuable for future deep space exploration.