Deployable
shelters of various forms have been utilised since ancient civilisation. The
need for these systems
has not diminished over time and development continues
for military forces, civilian humanitarian aid, and post-natural disaster
scenarios. Recent developments have focussed mainly on tent type structures,
air beam technology and steel frames supporting soft fabric, yet none of these
systems have fully satisfied the deployability requirements. The Military Modular
Shelter System (M2S2) initiative is a research project that aims to
develop a fibre
composite re-
deployable arched shelter system with rigid or
fabric cladding. The main frames are formed from modular fibre composite panels
that are connected and stressed in position by prestressing cables. Different
geometries can be obtained using this system by changing the number of panels
per frame and the packer sizes between panels. This paper presents the concept
of M2S2 with background about existing systems followed by the development and
testing of an innovative, simple to manufacture, truss module that was
investigated as part of this project. The test results showed good
characteristics. These include having alternate load paths and failure
initiated and propagated in the web with no, undesirable, failure observed in
the adhesive layers.