The Structure Analysis And Accuracy Measurement Of The Inflatable Antenna On Earth

The space inflatable technology is a brand new technology; it has untouchable superiority in fabricating ultra-large space structures. Space inflatable structures usually compose of large thin membranes, and it's of ultra-lightweight, small package volume, low cost, and high deployable reliability. The inflatable membrane on earth is the basic element of space structures, the study of which has a great significance.The inflatable antenna studied in this paper is comprised of two parts in function,the reflection plane and corbelled sphere. The reflection plane is made of Capton and the corbelled sphere is made of compound material. The membrane structure can be formed in predicted shape under an appropriate pressure. The design of reflection plane is the hard core of the whole structure, so it is much rigorous in the design of the parameter.The domestic and abroad state of art of inflatable structures is introduced first in this paper. Then membrane structure is trimmed off with the programme based on geodestic method and composed of the whole structure. This paper builds the folded model and simulates the process of the deployment.The deformation and displacement of the finite element model under the pressure load is also depicted at last in this paper. An trial of the accuracy of the reflection plane by using the software PhotoModeler is also involved at last.At the end of this dissertation some conclusions were reached and the problems that should be studied further were put forward.