Integrated Optimization Design of Carbon Fiber Composite Framework for Small Lightweight Space Camera

A Carbon Fiber Composite (CFC) framework was designed for a small lightweight space camera. According to the distribution characteristics of each optical element in the optical system, CFC (M40J) was chosen to accomplish the design of the framework. TC4 embedded parts were used to solve the low accuracy of the CFC framework interface problem. An integrated optimization method and the optimization strategy which combined a genetic global optimization algorithm with a downhill simplex local optimization algorithm were adopted to optimize the structure parameters of the framework. After optimization, the total weight of the CFC framework and the TC4 embedded parts is 15.6 kg, accounting for only 18.4% that of the camera. The first order frequency of the camera reaches 104.8 Hz. Finally, a mechanical environment test was performed, and the result demonstrates that the first order frequency of the camera is 102 Hz, which is consistent with the simulation result. It further verifies the rationality and correctness of the optimization result. The integrated optimization method mentioned in this paper can be applied to the structure design of other space cameras, which can greatly improve the structure design efficiency.