The deployable structures investigated in this paper are prefabricated space frames made of basic units consisting of two straight bars connected to each other by a pivot, the so called scissor-like-elements. They can be stored in a compact folded configuration, and can be easily deployed into large, load carrying forms by simple articulation. In order to avoid major disadvantages of previous designs, the structures examined here obey strict geometric rules so that they are self-standing and stress-free in both their folded and deployed configurations. During deployment however, geometric incompatibility between member lengths results in a geometrically nonlinear structural behaviour. The optimum design of such a structure has to provide a compromise between desired stiffness in the deployed configuration, and desired felxibility during deployment.
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