What is a solar hinge used for?

Due to the hinge's excellent deformation characteristics, it shows great promise for use in foldable and deployable structures such as solar wings, antennas, and solar sails. As illustrated in Fig. 5 a, hinges can be deployed on the upper and lower sides of a simulated solar panel, positioned vertically to negate the influence of gravity.

Can a solar panel hinge be deployed vertically?

As illustrated in Fig. 5 a, hinges can be deployed on the upper and lower sides of a simulated solar panel, positioned vertically to negate the influence of gravity. In this setup, the hinge only needs to overcome the friction at the connection points of the solar panels to deploy.

Can a solar sail hinge be used as a smart deformable hinge?

The hinge can achieve stable deployment of a simulated solar sail within 100 s at 40 W power. In the future, this dual-deformation design can be extended to more hinges, enabling their independent or combined use as smart deformable hinges, thereby expanding their applicability across various scenarios and environments.

How long should a solar sail hinge be?

It is worth noting that to increase the area of the deployed solar sail, both ends of the tubular hinge are extended to 17 cm. Since the positions and dimensions of the slits remain unchanged, the 17 cm long hinge retains excellent elastic deployment characteristics.

How do you remove a tubular hinge?

For the tubular hinge, heat it to the shaping temperature and maintain it for 10 min. After removal, quickly apply a small pressure to the middle of the hinge to facilitate folding and bending, use external force to secure both ends of the hinge, and cool to room temperature.

How much stress does a hinge have?

A maximum von-Misses stresses of 9.7 MPa in the active element of the main hinge, as well as of 46.721 MPa in the active element of the secondary hinge were obtained. These are shown in Figure 8 (a) and (b), respectively.