Abstract
CubeSats and the space environment poses uniques, challenging and multiphysics constraints on the antenna design. In this work, we present the design of a patch stacked antenna working across the up- and downlink Ka-bands. The selection of the materials and geometry of the radiator was carried out by accounting for the trade-off between electromagnetic, thermal and mechanical requirements. The design of the antenna is performed with a particle swarm optimization algorithm developed to control the bandwidth and matching of the antenna over the Ka-band. Furthermore, a multiphysics thermal analysis is performed to verify the operational stability of the optimized array, mounted on a 1U satellite, in a case-study mission. The temperature patterns in the array are evaluated during the orbital period and the influence of operative temperature on the antenna responses and gain was considered. The thermal loads can affect the antenna matching, but, thanks to the optimized design, the proposed stacked antenna could operate from -100C to 100C, with analmost constant gain. Finally, folllowing a damage tolerant approach, the level of mechanical deformation which could be inducedon the communication system was studied. The analysis of stresses reveals that the stacked geometry could effectively be used in a space mission
Highlights
Nowadays, the use of CubeSats for telecommunications and interplanetary missions is ever-increasing, thanks to their appealing low-cost character, as well as the space environment, which poses challenging multiphysics constraints on the antenna design
A multiphysics thermal analysis is performed to verify the operational stability of the optimized array, mounted on a 1U satellite, in a case-study mission
Few K/Ka-band antenna designs have been proposed for CubeSat deep space missions [6]
Summary
CubeSats are low-cost, cube-shaped (10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm) nano-satellites (1-10 kg) used for remote sensing, telecommunications, deep-space communication and interplanetary missions [1]–[6]. Few K/Ka-band antenna designs have been proposed for CubeSat deep space missions [6]. From the analysis of the state-of-the-art (Tab. I), very few works present a multiphysics analysis of an antenna or an array to study or demonstrate the compliance to mechano-thermal constraints and the safety of the spacecraft during operations. The design and optimization of a Ka-band antenna, for down- and uplink operations, which serves as an efficient communication system in the space environment, is proposed. We demonstrate that the multiphysics study on the influence of antenna geometry and materials on thermal deformation and stresses is effective and allows to meet the requirements and constraints imposed by CubeSat missions.
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