Design of Kirigami-Inspired Metamaterials for Stretchable Space Antennas
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Mechanical Metamaterials
Space Communication
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Abstract
Deployable space antennas demand materials that are lightweight, compact, and highly stretchable. This work explores kirigami-inspired mechanical metamaterials as potential reflector surfaces as alternatives to AstroMesh system. Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and physical prototyping, we evaluated five geometries by stretchability, isotropicity and manufacturability with the corresponding indices. Results reveal that additional diagonal and auxiliary cuts significantly improve stretchability but can reduce isotropicity. Geometry 5 achieved the highest stretchability, while Geometry 3 achieved the highest manufacturability, which demonstrates the balance required between mechanical properties and fabrication feasibility. Overall, we demonstrated that kirigami metamaterials hold strong promise for lightweight reflector applications, while also providing broader design insights for kirigami metamaterials.