Structural units are the basic components of self-locking foldable grid structures, and their spatial configurations have a vital influence on the structural performance of the overall grid. Research on the deployment process of structural units can help effectively control their stress level and achieve a rational self-locking capability for the units. Therefore, this article describes experimental and modeling studies on the deployment process of structural units and provides a reference for the establishment of numerical models and the design of structural units. The experimental results revealed that the self-locking capability of a structural unit is mainly determined by the bending moments of its members in the planes of the scissor-like elements. The method for adjusting the locations of the pivot endpoints at the radial bars is effective for improving the self-locking capacity, but the degree of adjustment must be strictly controlled to prevent large rotation at the inner lower hub joint. In addition, the feasibility of the modeling method was verified by comparing the experimental curves with the curves obtained by theoretical models.

中文翻译：

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自锁长方体可折叠结构单元展开过程的实验与数值研究

结构单元是自锁可折叠网格结构的基本组成部分，其空间配置对整个网格的结构性能有着至关重要的影响。对结构单元展开过程的研究有助于有效控制其应力水平，实现单元的合理自锁能力。因此，本文介绍了结构单元展开过程的实验和建模研究，为数值模型的建立和结构单元的设计提供了参考。试验结果表明，结构单元的自锁能力主要由其构件在剪刀状单元平面内的弯矩决定。调整径向杆枢轴端点位置的方法对提高自锁能力有效，但必须严格控制调整的程度，以防止内下轮毂接头处出现大的旋转。此外，通过将实验曲线与理论模型得到的曲线进行比较，验证了建模方法的可行性。