Deployable Modular Mesh Antenna and its Surface Adjustment

Abstract

The deployable modular mesh antenna is composed of independently fabricated and tested antenna modules to reduce difficulties in ground testing. Each module comprises a metallic mesh shaped by a cable nework and a deployable truss structure. This paper states the basic constitution of each module, especially of the cable network, and results of surface shape adjustment simulations and experiments. Employing the present method, reflector distortions after the fabrication can be adjusted by changing cable lengths without any sensitivity analysis. Numerical simulations and experiments clarify that the attainable surface accuracy of a module is determined mainly by the accuracy of the truss structure.