Vibration Evaluation of Wrinkled Membrane Inflated Beam

Inflated booms are under increasing application in various membrane spacecraft structures. A specific emphasis is often placed on determining static characteristics of inflated beams in bending. There is a lack of knowledge in dynamic conditions, especially for simple and accurate solutions for wrinkled inflated beams. This article deals with the theoretical evaluation on the natural frequencies of wrinkled inflated beams. Three factors, including the inflated pressure, the wrinkles, and the aspect ratio, are introduced into the vibration equation of the beam to predict the first-order natural frequency of the wrinkled inflated beams. The predictions on the first-order natural frequency agree well with the vibration simulations. The parametric studies on the vibration characteristics of the wrinkled inflated beam are performed in the end. Results reveal that the wrinkles decrease the first-order natural frequency of the inflated beam greatly. The first-order frequency of the wrinkled inflated beam is sens...