Assembly preload adjustment for mesh antennas considering coupling effects of dimensional errors and thermal deformation

The mesh antenna is an extensively utilized antenna structure for its large deployed-to-stowed ratio. Since its surface shape, which determines the electromagnetic performance, is formed by the assembly preload acting on cables, it is of vital importance to properly adjust the preload distribution in the assembly stage. However, the existing methods usually neglect either the thermal deformation or the dimensional errors of components. To improve the surface accuracy of front net, a thermal-structural model of mesh antennas considering the coupling effects of thermal deformation and dimensional errors is established, and an assembly preload adjustment method is proposed in this paper. Different from previous studies, the dimensional errors and thermal deformation of the antenna are coupled in the thermal-structural model, and the dimensional errors are split into multiple differential steps to simulate the practical deformation process of the structure. After the assembly preload adjustment, the maximum RMS errors in case 1 ∼ case 3 given in this paper are reduced by 30.6%, 28.7% and 30.8% respectively. Compared with methods proposed in previous work, the proposed method can more effectively adjust the preload of antenna while considering the coupling effects of thermal deformation and dimensional errors, and significantly enhance the in-orbit surface accuracy of antenna.