Thermally-enhanced and deployable structures

A method comprising:

• receiving thermal energy at one or more shape-changeable hinges coupled to a flight vehicle and one or more deployable panels, each of the one or more deployable panels comprising multiple solar collectors disposed on the deployable panel, each of the one or more shape-changeable hinges comprising:
• a lid;
• a body;
• one or more morphable regions forming a first portion of the lid and the body, the one or more morphable regions comprising one or more shape-memory materials configured to cause a shape of the hinge to change;
• one or more adiabatic regions disposed adjacent to the one or more morphable regions and forming a second portion of the lid and the body, wherein the one or more adiabatic regions are coated with one or more insulative materials;
• and
• one or more heat pipes embedded in the one or more morphable regions and the one or more adiatabic regions, the one or more heat pipes configured to receive thermal energy from the solar collectors and transfer the thermal energy at least partially along a length of the hinge, the one or more heat pipes having a shape formed by one or more first indentations formed in an inner surface of the lid and one or more second indentations formed in an inner surface of the body, the one or more first indentations and the one or more second indentations aligning with each other to form the one or more heat pipes;
• transferring the thermal energy between different ones of the regions using the one or more heat pipes;
• and
• rejecting the thermal energy from the one or more shape-changeable hinges into an external environment;
• wherein only the one or more morphable regions include the one or more shape-memory materials and the one or more adiabatic regions are formed from one or more other materials having high thermal conductivity.

A method comprising:

• receiving thermal energy atone or more shape-changeable hinges coupled to one or more deployable panels and a flight vehicle, each of the one or more deployable panels comprising multiple solar collectors disposed on the deployable panel, each of the one or more shape-changeable hinges comprising:
• a lid;
• a body;
• one or more morphable regions forming a first portion of the lid and the body, the one or more morphable regions comprising one or more shape-memory materials configured to cause a shape of the hinge to change;
• one or more adiabatic regions disposed adjacent to the one or more morphable regions and forming a second portion of the lid and the body, wherein the one or more adiabatic regions are coated with one or more insulative materials;
• and
• one or more heat pipes embedded in the one or more morphable regions and the one or more adiabatic regions, the one or more heat pipes configured to receive thermal energy from the solar collectors and transfer the thermal energy at least partially along a length of the hinge, the one or more heat pipes having a shape formed by one or more first indentations formed in an inner surface of the lid and one or more second indentations formed in an inner surface of the body, the one or more first indentations and the one or more second indentations aligning with each other to form the one or more heat pipes;
• transferring the thermal energy at least partially along a length of each of the one or more shape-changeable hinges using the one or more heat pipes;
• and
• changing a shape of at least one of the one or more shape-changeable hinges using the one or more shape-memory materials in the at least one shape-changeable hinge;
• wherein only the one or more morphable regions include the one or more shape-memory materials and the one or more adiabatic regions are formed from one or more other materials having high thermal conductivity.