and the length of each side of every platform is 5.2 m. A force of 75000 N is applied

along the requisite axis, on the vertices of the topmost platform. Every strut and plate in

all three masts is made of aluminum. In mast I the length of every vertical strut is 4.9 m

and the length of every angular strut is 7.14 m. In mast II the length of each side of the

central platform is 2.6 m and the length of every strut connecting two platforms is 5.12

m. In the deployable mast the length of every strut is 6.78 m. The thickness of the plates

used in the top and bottom platform of every level is 0.1 m. In the ANSYS model the

struts of the deployable mast are considered to be rigid when fully deployed, which can

be made possible by a mechanism involving spring loaded pins.

 4.4 Results

Table 4-1 Stiffness and mass comparison of three different masts

 KX KY KZ KtZ Mass
 (N/m) (N/m) (N/m) (Nm/degree) (kg)

 Mast I 1.18E+08 1.18E+08 2.13E+09 1.12E+07 2.94E+04

 Mast II 7.65E+07 7.65E+07 3.20E+09 1.62E+07 2.65E+04

 Deployable 1.54E+06 1.56E+06 7.27E+07 2.35E+06 3.42E+04
 mast

 From Table 4-1, it is evident that the deployable mast designed in Chapter 3, is less

stiff and weighs more when compared to the typical regular masts. The figures

pertaining to the results shown in Table 4-1 which is obtained from ANSYS 7.1 is shown

in the appendix B.