An Effective Form Analysis Approach for Designing and Optimizing a Cable-Net Structure of a Giant Active Reflector
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Cable-Net Structure of the Active Reflector
3. Basic Form Analysis Principles of the Reflector Cable-Net Structure
3.1. Structural Discretization and Motion Description
3.2. Principles for Solving Static Equilibrium
3.3. Iterative Principle and Basic Flow of Form Analysis
4. Form Analysis Results of the FAST Active Reflector Cable-Net Structure
4.1. Numerical Model of the Cable-Net Structure
4.2. Form-Finding Analysis Results
4.3. Form Deformation Analysis Results
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- The basic principle and flow for solving the static equilibrium of the active reflector cable-net structure based on VFIFE were proposed. The core idea was to dissipate energy by applying virtual damping. Through the combined effect of forced displacement and actuator length changes, the cable-net structure can achieve the target form and the equilibrium state can be also obtained.
- (2)
- The approach proposed can help achieve a uniform cable tension design based on the idea of “equal-tension replacement” in the form-finding analysis. The RMS error between the final form and the theoretical form was only 0.0097 mm. In addition, the stress of both main cables and control stress was optimized to be uniform. While grasping the stress distribution of various cables through the form-finding analysis, the length change of the actuators was also obtained.
- (3)
- For the form deformation analysis, the change process from the reference state to the target working state was successfully simulated by the proposed approach. The final form obtained conforms to the designated working paraboloid. The RMS error between the final form and the theoretical paraboloid was only 0.0133 mm. Moreover, the stress of various cables and the length change of the actuators were also obtained. The above conclusions provide an important basis for the actual operation and the control optimization of the active reflector. This approach is also applicable to the form analysis of similar cable-net structures.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Chen, D.; Zhang, Y.; Qian, H.; Zhang, K.; Wang, H. An Effective Form Analysis Approach for Designing and Optimizing a Cable-Net Structure of a Giant Active Reflector. Aerospace 2021, 8, 269. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090269
Chen D, Zhang Y, Qian H, Zhang K, Wang H. An Effective Form Analysis Approach for Designing and Optimizing a Cable-Net Structure of a Giant Active Reflector. Aerospace. 2021; 8(9):269. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090269
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Deshen, Yan Zhang, Hongliang Qian, Kai Zhang, and Huajie Wang. 2021. "An Effective Form Analysis Approach for Designing and Optimizing a Cable-Net Structure of a Giant Active Reflector" Aerospace 8, no. 9: 269. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090269