ABSTRACT

The chapter describes and illustrates the stages in utilization of the CHEM foam structure for commercial applications. The overall simplicity of the CHEM process is one of its greatest assets. Simple procedures for stowing and self-deployment provided by this technology greatly simplify the overall end-to-end process for designing, fabricating, stowing, deployment and rigidization of commercial products. Once deployed and rigidized, a CHEM part could be heated and compacted again. In principle, there should be no limit to the achievable number of compaction/deployment/rigidization cycles. The chapter also explains how the CHEM products can be compacted and packaged in different ways. The products can be compacted by compression, rolling or a combination of these two and/or other methods. Also, the packaging could be in forms such as accordion-folding, roll-up, a combination of these two and/or other appropriate packaging for selected CHEM applications.