| Summary: | In this article the primary segment of an antiprismatic pop-up mast is analyzed, that can be applied for largely flexible architectural designs, like deployable bridges or transportable look-out towers. This deployable column, consisting of rigid plates, rigid and elastic bars, is characterized by its selfdeploying behavior due to the energy accumulated from lengthening the elastic bars during packing. The main goal of this paper is to prepare the analysis of the complex structure by a herein detailed investigation of the behavior of one, basic element of the deployable mast. After the analytical examination of the general behavior of the basic segment a geometrically nonlinear finite element formulation is used to trace the force-displacement diagram. Besides the parametric study, approximations of main mechanical parameters are herein given for facilitating preliminary design of such deployable structures.
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