The demand for larger and lighter mechanisms for next-generation space missions necessitates using deployable structures. High-strain fiber polymer composites show considerable promise for such applications due to their exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, manufacturing versatility, packaging efficiency, and capacity for self-deployment using stored strain energy. However, a significant challenge in using composite deployable structures for space applications arises from the unavoidable extended stowage periods before they are deployed into their operational configuration in orbit. During the stowage period, the polymers within the composites experience material degradation due to their inherent viscoelastic and/or plastic properties, causing stress relaxation and accumulation of plastic strains, thereby reducing the deployment capability and resulting in issues related to recovery accuracy. This paper aims to give a state-of-the-art review of recent advances in the design, modeling, and manufacturing of high-strain composites for deployable structures in space applications, emphasizing the long-term stowage effects. This review is intended to initiate discussion of future research to enable efficient, robust, and accurate design of composite deployable structures that account for the enduring challenges posed by long-term stowage effects.

The thin-walled lenticular deployable composite (LDC) boom can achieve folding and deployment functions by storing and releasing strain energy. In this paper, analytical models for predicting the folding moment and the ultimate coiling radius of the lenticular DCB in the folding process were established based on the energy principle and the classical laminate theory. By using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III), a many-objective optimization design framework for optimizing the lenticular DCB was proposed. The optimization results show that 48 design points are found on the Pareto front, all of which are better than test sample.

A full-scale model for predicting low-velocity impact (LVI) damage and compression after impact (CAI) strength was established based on a subroutine of the material constitutive relationship and the cohesive elements. The dynamic responses of the laminate under impact load and damage propagation under a compressive load were presented. The influences of impact energy and ply thickness on the impact damage and the CAI strength were predicted. The predicted results were compared with the experimental ones. It is shown that the predicted value of the CAI strength is in good agreement with the experimental result. As the impact energy reaches a certain value, the CAI strength no longer decreases with the increase in the impact energy. Decreasing the ply thickness can effectively improve the damage resistance and CAI strength.