General Mesh Configuration Design Approach for Large Cable-Network Antenna Reflectors
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 2
Abstract
A well-designed mesh configuration is of great importance to the performance of large cable-network antenna reflectors. The motivation of this study is to find a general approach for designing appropriate mesh configurations of such reflector structure. By synthetically considering the shape-forming criteria, boundary connection conditions, and surface dividing ways, a versatile approach with the ability to generate desired spatial parabolic mesh configurations with specific engineering significance is proposed. In this paper, three shape-forming criteria based on the force-density method are developed. By introducing various boundary connection conditions, mesh configurations with different surface accuracies are achieved. Furthermore, by employing different polygonal elements to divide the surface, arbitrary polygon-faceted mesh configurations are acquired. The work presented in this paper will provide a valuable technical reference for the mesh design of large cable-network antenna reflectors and will lay a necessary foundation for subsequent dynamic analysis of such cable-network structures.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Agrawal, P. K., Anderson, M. S., and Card, M. F. (1981). “Preliminary design of large reflectors with flat facets.” IEEE Trans. Antenn. Propagat., 29(4), 688–694.
Bradshaw, R., et al. (2002). “Special structures: Past, present, and future.” J. Struct. Eng., 128(6), 691–709.
Greco, L., and Cuomo, M. (2012). “On the force density method for slack cable nets.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 49(13), 1526–1540.
Guan, F. L., Yang, Y. L., and Zhao, M. L. (2006). “Mesh generation and preventing winding of large net-shape deployable antennas for satellite.” J. Eng. Design, 13(4), 271–276 (in Chinese).
Hernandez-Montes, E., Jurado-Pina, R., and Bayo, E. (2006). “Topological mapping for tension structures.” J. Struct. Eng., 132(6), 970–977.
Levy, R., and Spillers, W. R. (1998). “Practical methods of shape-finding for membranes and cable nets.” J. Struct. Eng., 124(4), 466–468.
Li, T. J., Zhou, M. H., and Duan, B. Y. (2008). “A method of form-finding analysis for flexible cable-net structures of deployable antennas.” J. Astronaut., 29(3), 794–798 (in Chinese).
Linkwitz, K. (1999). “Form finding by the “direct approach” and pertinent strategies for the conceptual design of prestressed and hanging structures.” Int. J. Space Struct., 14(2), 73–87.
Malerba, P. G., Patelli, M., and Quagliaroli, M. (2012). “An extended force density method for the form finding of cable systems with new forms.” Struct. Eng. Mech., 42(2), 191–210.
Meguro, A., Harada, S., and Watanabe, M. (2003). “Key technologies for high-accuracy large mesh antenna reflectors.” Acta Astronaut., 53(11), 899–908.
Morterolle, S., et al. (2012). “Numerical form-finding of geotensoid tension truss for mesh reflector.” Acta Astronaut., 76, 154–163.
Schek, H. J. (1974). “The force density method for form finding and computation of general networks.” Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng., 3(1), 115–134.
Shi, H., et al. (2012). “Automatic surface mesh generation for design of space deployable mesh reflectors.” Proc. 53rd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Struct., Struct. Dyn. Mat. Conf., AIAA, Reston, VA.
Tanaka, H., and Natori, M. C. (2004). “Shape control of space antennas consisting of cable networks.” Acta Astronaut., 55(3–9), 519–527.
Thomson, M. W. (2002). “AstroMesh deployable reflectors for Ku- and Ka- band commercial satellites.” Proc. 20th AIAA Int. Comm. Sat. Sys. Conf. Exhib., AIAA, Reston, VA.
Tibert, A. G. (2003). “Optimal design of tension truss antennas.” Proc. 44th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS Struct., Struct. Dyn. Mat. Conf., AIAA, Reston, VA.
Tibert, A. G., and Pellegrino, S. (2002). “Deployable tensegrity reflectors for small satellites.” J. Spacecraft Rocket, 39(5), 701–709.
Tran, H. C., and Lee, J. (2010). “Advanced form-finding of cable-strut structures.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 47(14–15), 1785–1794.
Wang, Z., Li, T., and Deng, H. (2012). “Form-finding analysis and active shape adjustment of cable net reflectors with PZT actuators.” J. Aerosp. Eng.
Xu, X., and Luo, Y. Z. (2011). “Multistable tensegrity structures.” J. Struct. Eng., 137(1), 117–123.
Zhang, J. Y., and Ohsaki, M. (2006). “Adaptive force density method for form-finding problem of tensegrity structures.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 43(18–19), 5658–5673.
Zhang, L., Maurin, B., and Motro, R. (2006). “Form-finding of nonregular tensegrity systems.” J. Struct. Eng., 132(9), 1435–1440.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 2 • February 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 24, 2012
Accepted: Feb 5, 2013
Published online: Feb 7, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Mar 8, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.