Investigation of Structural Architectures for the PowerCube Origami-Inspired Solar Array

Deployables Cubed GmbH (DCUBED) has developed PowerCube, an innovative solar array that can generate 100 W power EOL and be stowed in a 1U CubeSat. It can achieve superior performance than state-of-the-art solutions thanks to a origami-inspired folding pattern and a dual-matrix composite substrate. This paper builds on the initial design of PowerCube, developed as part of an ESA-funded activity, and proposes alternatives implementations to improve the current design in terms of mass, thickness, and structural performance. The alternative concepts are first investigated using finite element simulations and are manufactured in a reduced version to prove their feasibility through experiments. The deployed frequency is chosen as a measure of structural stiffness, and the dynamics of the passive deployment of the structure is evaluated to confirm that the deployment is well-behaved and predictable. Numerical and experimental results are critically evaluated to identify the best option.