New Methodology of Surface Mesh Geometry Design for Deployable Mesh Reflectors

Abstract

Large deployable mesh reflectors are found in many space applications. To warrant the performance of this type of space structure, it is desirable to have a methodology for systematic design of deployable mesh reflector surface geometries that can yield high surface accuracy and produce almost uniform distribution of member lengths and triangular facet sizes while maintaining a minimum total member length. The desired design methodology, however, is currently unavailable. This effort aims to fill the aforementioned technical gap in the literature. Presented in this paper is a new optimal geometry mesh design method that automatically determines the nodal coordinates and member connectivity for a given deployable mesh reflector with high surface accuracy and almost uniform member lengths. This design method also guarantees the pseudogeodesic property of the generated surface mesh geometry, which in many cases gives a minimum total member length. The proposed method is applicable to spherical and parabolic surfaces with either a center-feed configuration or offset-feed configuration, and it can meet the operating frequency requirements of large deployable mesh reflectors.