Form-finding methods for deployable mesh reflector antennas

Deployable high-frequency mesh reflector antennas for future communications and observations are required to obtain high gain and high directivity. In order to support these new missions, reflectors with high surface accuracy are widely required. The form-finding analysis of deployable mesh reflector antennas becomes more vital which aims to determine the initial surface profile formed by the equilibrium prestress distribution in cables to satisfy the surface accuracy requirement. In this paper, two form-finding methods for mesh reflector antennas, both of which include two steps, are proposed. The first step is to investigate the prestress design only for the cable net structure as the circumferential nodes connected to the supporting truss are assumed fixed. The second step is to optimize the prestress distribution of the boundary cables connected directly to the supporting truss considering the elastic deformation of the antenna structure. Some numerical examples are carried out and the simulation results demonstrate the proposed form-finding methods can warrant the deformed antenna reflector surface matches the one by design and the cable tension forces fall in a specified range.