MODULE COMPOSITION AND DEPLOYMENT METHOD ON DEPLOYABLE MODULAR-MESH ANTENNA STRUCTURES

A deployable modular-mesh antenna is the concept behind a large space antenna. To ensure reliable deployment, a synchronously deployable tru ss structure forming a curved reflector surface has been developed. Th e proposed antenna's main reflector formed by two types of modules usi ng mesh and cable network maintains a sufficient level of rigidity at deployment and deploys with high reliability. Importance has also been placed on the numerical analyses of cables, the mesh, and the truss s tructures. The truss structure analysis is based on a non-linear finit e element method, rather than on multi-body dynamics, so that elastic motions of all truss members during the deployment can easily be handl ed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.