Abstract
The structures intended for the aerospace applications have to be lightweight, stiff and compact to be able to be stored in the fairing of a launcher. A solution is allowing to deploy automatically a stiff skeleton by means of elastic energy stored in flexible connections. The reserved solution, establishing an annular polygonal structure, can be used in various types of space applications, whether it is for solar, deorbiting or satellite antennas. It made the object of geometrical studies to optimize the compactness and the mass. The kinematics and the dynamics of the deployment were also studied and modelled, at the same time analytically and numerically. The analysis of the rigidity of the structure in folded position (folded in the fairing) and in operational configuration is handled and confronted with the vibratory experiments of a prototype. The addition of a three-dimensional network allowing to tighten a reflector membrane for applications of type "antenna" will be proposed, as well as a locking device in operational phase.