We were honored to have George Antoun from ATA Engineering, Inc. present at the SIMULIA Americas Users Conference, May 3-4, 2023 in Novi, Michigan.
Abstract: Starshade is a 30–50 m diameter origami-inspired deployable structure that works in conjunction with a space-based telescope to blocks starlight from a distant star and enable high-contrast imaging of exoplanets. Starshade is one of a few technologies in development by the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program to support the search for habitable exoplanets; the objective of this technology maturation effort is to develop and demonstrate the required new technologies to meet the tight performance metrics so Starshade can graduate into a flight program.
Given the uncertainty introduced by testing with gravity-offload systems, flight programs with deployable structures generally require reliable analytical models to simulate the on-orbit deployment behavior and verify that flight requirements are satisfied. With over a hundred gapped hinge joints, a highly packaged origami fold region, geared connections with deadbands, one-way linear ratchets, and contact throughout, the Starshade deployment presents an extremely challenging system to analytically model. Over the past several years, ATA has been supporting the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with
Abaqus modeling, first through a pathfinder analysis to demonstrate the suitability of Abaqus to simulate the Starshade’s deployment and more recently by performing design trade studies and key analyses such as deployed shape repeatability due to environmental variations and uncertainties. This presentation will provide an overview of the Abaqus modeling and simulation approach, element
choice, and the extensive use of connector elements to efficiently model simple mechanisms that are critical to Starshade’s deployment behavior while achieving reasonable runtimes.
Bio: George Antoun is a Senior Technical Advisor at ATA Engineering, Inc, an engineering services company that provides high-value analytical and test support across a range of industries. Over the past 20 years at ATA as a structural dynamicist, George has worked on an array of aerospace programs applying existing tools and developing new analysis methods using a combination of Abaqus, ADAMS, and Nastran to solve challenging problems that often don't fit neatly into the finite element or Multi-Body Dynamics domain. For the past several years George has supported JPL's technology development effort on Starshade, an origami-inspired deployable structure; first performing pathfinder analyses demonstrating the suitability of Abaqus and more recently supporting their design activities.
George works out of ATA's Rocky Mountain office in Lakewood, just outside of Denver, Colorado.
@GA
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