Investigating bulk metallic glasses as ball-and-cone locators for spacecraft deployable structures

摘要

Ball-and-cone locators are the standard latching mechanism for spacecraft with deployable structures. Similar to other spacecraft components, the locators require the use of materials with low density and high performance. Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) and their composites are alloys with superior mechanical properties with potential for spacecraft applications. In this study, Ti-based BMGs and their composites were prototyped for next-generation ball-and-cone locator inserts. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.