Design and static analysis of new deployable mechanisms based on the four-bar slider-crank mechanism

This paper presents two types of new deployable mechanisms based on the motion characteristics of the four-bar slider-crank mechanism (FBSCM): the prism mechanism with constant cross-section and the round deployable mechanism. A new basic planar deployable unit based on the path-generating characteristics of the FBSCM is proposed. The method of building a deployable mast unit with one DOF from the new planar deployable mechanism is given. The prism mechanism with constant cross-section of one DOF is constructed, and the magnification ratio is analyzed. Moreover, the deployable unit with a negative Poisson's ratio for building the round deployable mechanism based on the properties of functional output of the FBSCM is proposed. The structure of the round deployable mechanism is described, and the parameter model with multilevel deployment is calculated and validated with cases given; the DOF of the round deployable mechanism is one. Last, the static analysis of the round deployable mechanism is studied by simulation; by locking 6 guide rails, the structure is found to have a balanced bearing capacity, and the bearing performance is improved compared with locking only one guide rail.