New design of precise deployable reflector. Technologies for manufacturing of physical model

Abstract

The new design of petal space antenna is considered in the paper. Various versions of solid petal-type mirrors have been considered and investigated in a number of articles and space projects. The classical scheme of petal type deployable space reflector was proposed and developed by Dornier Corporation within FIRST space project and was used in the Radioastron project to create a 10-meter antenna of space radio telescope. However, the classical petal mirror design has two significant drawbacks. Firstly, in the open state, the petals are cantilevered on the central mirror, what leads to low rigidity of the structure in open state. Secondly, in the classical design, the accuracy of the reflecting surface of the open mirror strongly depends on small errors in the operation of the deployment system. To overcome these drawbacks a new design of petal type mirror and a new system for precise opening of the mirror were proposed and studied. To test a new technical solution, a physical model of a deployable reflector was developed. The model contains a central mirror, a set of petals, hinges, locks and actuators for opening the mirror. 3D printing technology, CNC (computer numerical control) milling, plastic injection molding and carbon fiber technologies have been tested for central mirror and petals of the model fabrication. The results of computer and physical simulation are presented in the paper.