Forms and Concepts for Lightweight Structures

Covering a wide range of structural concepts and presenting both relevant theories and their applications to actual structures, this book brings together for the first time lightweight structures concepts for many different applications and the relevant scientific literature, thus providing unique insights into a fascinating field of human endeavour. Evolved from a series of graduate courses taught by the authors at the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, this textbook provides both theoretical and practical insights and presents a range of examples which also provide a history of key lightweight structures since the Apollo age. This essential guide will inspire the imagination of engineers and provide an analytical foundation for all readers.

Preface; 1. Truss structures; 2. Space frames; 3. Tension structures; 4. Tension-stabilized structures; 5. Shell structures; 6. Sandwich structures; 7. Packaging of membranes; 8. Concepts of deployable structures; 9. Applications of deployable structures; 10. Adaptive structures; Appendix A. Geometric foundations; Appendix B. Structural mechanics foundations; Appendix C. Essential bibliography; Appendix D. Bibliography; Index.

Koryo Miura is a prominent inventor in the field of space structures and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA. He invented the two-dimensionally deployable solar array as a fundamental step towards the Space Solar Power Station, which was successfully tested onboard the Space Solar Flyer Unit in 1996. He has also invented the tension truss concept for large deployable reflector antennas, adopted in several space missions. The basic geometric form called 'Miura-ori', invented by Miura, opened the door toward origami engineering.
Sergio Pellegrino is a leading academic researcher in deployable structures and the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the California Institute of Technology and a Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Pellegrino has made pioneering contributions to lightweight structures, including the development of a general theory for the analysis of structures that are statically and kinematically indeterminate, the invention of cable-deployed truss structures, analytical and experimental methods for composite tape-spring hinges that have led to their adoption in space missions, and ultralight structural architectures for space-based solar power satellites.