A Design Method for Reducing the Number of Actuators of a Large Active Main Reflector Antenna

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Proceedings of the Eighth Asia International Symposium on Mechatronics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering ((LNEE,volume 885))

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Abstract

Active main reflectors are often applied to the large aperture reflector antennas in engineering with a high operation frequency to improve the surface accuracy. Whether it is necessary to install actuators on all panels is a question that needs to be discussed. In this paper, a design method for reducing the number of actuators installed on the reflector is proposed. The panels are pre-adjusted to improve the surface accuracy when the gravity is considered, then assumed that there are no actuators in the area of small deformations after the pre-adjustment, and make the deformed reflector to approach the best fitting reflector where no actuator is installed. A 35 m active main reflector antenna is taken as an example in this paper to calculate the surface accuracy and electromagnetic (EM) performance. Results show that under the premise of satisfying the requirement of the surface accuracy, it is not necessary to install actuators on all panels. Therefore, the method mentioned in this article can effectively reduce the number of actuators in the antenna design stage, and achieve the purpose of reducing manufacturing costs and maintenance costs. This method has certain engineering practical value.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the National natural Science Foundation of china under grant No. 51805399.

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Correspondence to Peiyuan Lian .

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Qin, L. et al. (2022). A Design Method for Reducing the Number of Actuators of a Large Active Main Reflector Antenna. In: Duan, B., Umeda, K., Kim, Cw. (eds) Proceedings of the Eighth Asia International Symposium on Mechatronics. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 885. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1309-9_11

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