Dynamic modeling and experimental research on scissor-type flexible solar wing with geometric nonlinearity

[Display omitted] •A novel deployable flexible solar wing is proposed.•The Spatial virtual beam is introduced into structural modeling.•The UL incremental iteration formulas is applied to model.•A three-layer nested iteration algorithm is used for dynamic response.•The comparison of theoretical and experimental result is presented to validate model. With the increasing diversity of spacecraft, the solar wing deployable mechanisms are gradually developing to be more lightweight. In this paper, a scissor-type flexible solar wing deployable mechanism is proposed. In particular, the geometric nonlinear large deformation problem after deployment locking is primarily investigated, and the structural properties such as static load deformation, spatial modes, and impulse response are discussed sequentially. Firstly, the geometrically nonlinear incremental formulation of the spatial structure is established based on the Updated Lagrangian method, and the nonlinear system of equations is solved using the arc-length incremental iteration method. Secondly, a virtual beam element is introduced to represent the stiffness characteristics of the connected joints. Finally, a three-layer nested iteration algorithm, including time step and load step, is constructed for the dynamic response problem. The comparison of experimental and numerical results proves the reliability of the theoretical method. The method proposed in this paper provides guidance in equivalent modeling and numerical solutions, which is of great significance for the analysis and optimization of large-scale deployable aerospace structures.