The development of a novel rotary damping mechanism for aerospace deployment systems

This article describes the development of a new type of rotary damper which is intended primarily for speed control in aerospace deployment systems. The new rotary damper is the first to use the working principle of material damping to dissipate energy. The main advantage in using material damping is that energy is dissipated within the bulk of the material and therefore the damping process is not sensitive to the harsh environmental conditions that are experienced in many aerospace applications. A physical prototype has been manufactured and test results have demonstrated excellent functional performance.