Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector

Inflatable membrane reflectors are widely used in space and terrestrial deployable antennas. The mechanical properties of the inflated membrane reflector, however, are often a limiting factor in the level of the surface accuracy that can be achieved. In this study, membrane structural analysis is co...

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Main Authors: He Huang, Fu-ling Guan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3768746
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author He Huang
Fu-ling Guan
author_facet He Huang
Fu-ling Guan
author_sort He Huang
collection DOAJ
description Inflatable membrane reflectors are widely used in space and terrestrial deployable antennas. The mechanical properties of the inflated membrane reflector, however, are often a limiting factor in the level of the surface accuracy that can be achieved. In this study, membrane structural analysis is combined with sizing optimization to tailor the thickness of the membrane to improve surface accuracy of an axisymmetric parabolic inflated membrane reflector. Two reflector surface accuracy evaluation methods are employed in the optimizer and researched about their effect on the sensitivity analysis. Gradient-based optimization is employed together with a simplified sensitivity analysis, and the resulting algorithm is demonstrated on a membrane reflector case study. A linear thickness filter is used to avoid checkerboard patterns, and optimized solutions are computationally shown to achieve a feasible level of surface accuracy.
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publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
spelling doaj-art-6d3a9b88a9ab4e7e8f71dfc94d6c49f22025-08-20T02:24:03ZengWileyInternational Journal of Aerospace Engineering1687-59661687-59742019-01-01201910.1155/2019/37687463768746Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane ReflectorHe Huang0Fu-ling Guan1School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaCollege of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaInflatable membrane reflectors are widely used in space and terrestrial deployable antennas. The mechanical properties of the inflated membrane reflector, however, are often a limiting factor in the level of the surface accuracy that can be achieved. In this study, membrane structural analysis is combined with sizing optimization to tailor the thickness of the membrane to improve surface accuracy of an axisymmetric parabolic inflated membrane reflector. Two reflector surface accuracy evaluation methods are employed in the optimizer and researched about their effect on the sensitivity analysis. Gradient-based optimization is employed together with a simplified sensitivity analysis, and the resulting algorithm is demonstrated on a membrane reflector case study. A linear thickness filter is used to avoid checkerboard patterns, and optimized solutions are computationally shown to achieve a feasible level of surface accuracy.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3768746
spellingShingle He Huang
Fu-ling Guan
Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
title Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
title_full Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
title_fullStr Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
title_full_unstemmed Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
title_short Sensitivity Study on Optimizing Thickness Distribution for a Membrane Reflector
title_sort sensitivity study on optimizing thickness distribution for a membrane reflector
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3768746
work_keys_str_mv AT hehuang sensitivitystudyonoptimizingthicknessdistributionforamembranereflector
AT fulingguan sensitivitystudyonoptimizingthicknessdistributionforamembranereflector