Issued patent
Deployable Composite Boom
An issued NASA patent from the Technology Transfer catalog.
About this technology
Overview
A sister to SHEARLESS booms, the Bistable Collapsible Tubular Mast (Bi-CTM) boom, offers compact storage on a cylindrical drum that deploys a composite material boom with a closed tubular cross section that has unmatched bending and torsional stiffness for the mass of the thin-shell structure. The Bi-CTM is also scalable for long booms given the load carrying capacity. The Bi-CTM's two omega-shaped composite thin-shells form a bonded closed section which can spool onto a relatively compact drum for compact launch packaging and provide unparalleled stiffness to mass ratio when deployed. When using the booms as beam-column structures with a primarily compressive load component, this ratio determines the structural mass efficiency of the components, making the Bi-CTM exceptional for lightweight deployable structural rigging with higher load demands. The improved dimensional and thermal stability offered by the closed-section shape and low coefficient of thermal expansion materials of the Bi-CTM, enables the use of the boom technology in precision applications that require high stability in harsh environments.