• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Recently, as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), communication, and signal surveillance missions of spacecraft have become more advanced, research has been actively conducted on the deployable large mesh antenna system with excellent storage efficiency compared to the deployment area, and light weight. Deployable Mesh antennae are characterized by an increase in the number of Openings Per Inch (OPI), which is a measure of mesh weaving density as the mission frequency band increases, and this OPI change directly affects the thermal optical properties of the mesh antenna, so research on this is required. In this paper, to verify the thermal relationship between the optical properties of the mesh and antenna reflector, thermal sensitivity analysis between the mesh and the antenna reflector is performed by in-orbit thermal analysis with various optical characteristics of the mesh based on existing overseas research cases. In addition, the temperature gradient effect of the mesh reflector is analyzed.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2024

It is essential to develop a light-weight, high-performance structure for the deployable reflector antenna, which is the payload of a reconnaissance satellite, considering launch and orbital operation performance. Among them, the composite main reflector is a key component that constitutes a deployable reflector antenna. In particular, the development of a high-performance main reflector is required to acquire high-quality satellite images after agile attitude control maneuvers during satellite missions. To develop main reflector, the initial design of the main reflector was confirmed considering the structural performance according to the laminate stacking design and material properties of the composite main reflector that constitutes the deployable reflector antenna. Based on the initial design, four types of composite main reflectors were manufactured with the variable for manufacturing process. As variables for manufacturing process, the curing process of the composite structure, the application of adhesive film between the carbon fiber composite sheet and the honeycomb core, and the venting path inside the sandwich composite were selected. After manufacture main reflector, weight measurement, non-destructive testing(NDT), surface error measurement, and modal test were performed on the four types of main reflectors produced. By selecting a manufacturing process that does not apply adhesive film and includes venting path, for a composite main reflector with light weight and structural performance, we developed and verified a main reflector that can be applied to the SAR(Synthetic Aperture Rader) satellite.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.123-128
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• 2022

This paper proposes a non-explosive separation device for the deployable SAR antenna. This device utilises a Ni-Cr wire to restrain the antenna's belt mechanism, and joule-heating is used to minimise the impact of deployment. After the Ni-Cr wire has been cut, the device is deployed through the preload of the belt mechanism. Considering the design load(99g) and preload conditions, FEM analysis for AL7050 and Ti was performed. This analysis revealed that the amount of deformation for AL7050 was 0.256 mm with a margin of +0.09. In addition, by performing orbital thermal analysis, the temperature distribution for AL7050 in the worst cold case is confirmed as -50 to +2℃ and -10 to +90℃ in the worst hot case. This analysis confirmed that the separation device would remain stable even in the worst environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.225-231
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• 2020

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for SAR satellite as it can be operated regardless of the weather condition. In general, main reflector of the SAR is formed of multiple deployable panels to increase performance in the constrained payload envelope. By nature, deployable structure lacks structural stiffness and it is vulnerable to external disturbances and excitation. In particular, SAR satellites may have high levels of vibration occurring at the antenna reflecting surface due to higher angular rate requirements. During image capturing it is important to keep high surface accuracy of the reflector for the quality of images. In this research, a performance degradation of deployable SAR antenna due to structural deformation is analyzed. Panels for main reflectors are assumed to be flexible structures and multi-body simulation environment is established. Then, deflection of the panel is calculated while the satellite performs maneuvers. In addition, antenna gain and beam pointing error are analyzed to determine how these deflections affect antenna performance and mission.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.58-65
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• 2018

The dynamic characteristics of the deployable composite parabolic reflector with several panels were numerically and experimentally investigated. The deployment mechanism is designed to efficiently fit in a small volume. The parameters guiding the deployment are determined by considering; the number of panels, folding/twisting angles, and the driving forces of actuating devices. The panels are fabricated using carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). The zero-gravity simulator is manufactured for the unfolding test. The deployment behaviors of the reflector are finally observed.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.94-101
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• 2019

The dynamic characteristics of the composite reflector panels are numerically and experimentally investigated. A dynamics model of the panel is analytically developed based on a deployment mechanism of the antenna. The deployment is passively activated using elastic energy of a spring with two rotational degrees of freedom. Using the flexible multi-body dynamic analysis ADAMS, dynamic behavior of the panels such as velocities, deformations, as well as reaction forces during the deployment, are investigated in the gravity and zero-gravity cases. The reflector panel is manufactured using carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) and its deployment characteristics are experimentally observed using a zero-gravity deployment test. The impact response and vibration problems that occur during deployment of the antenna panel have been identified and reliably deployed using dampers.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.34-39
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• 2010

Due to big demand for satellite and communication service using personal handheld terminals, demand for satellites with huge antennas is increasing correspondingly. While such large antennas are realized by various types of deployable antennas, the reflecting surface is made by many facets irrespective of deploying mechanisms. In order to analyze the faceted-reflector more accurately, an existing ray-tracing method is improved. The algorithm allows the rays to cross each other, which is the main characteristic of the faceted-reflector, and takes unevenness of amplitude and phase over the aperture plane into consideration. For the study of the effect of facet configuration, facet generating algorithm is devised. From the analysis algorithm and the facet-generating algorithm, it has been found that the number of facets in a radial direction affects both directivity and sidelobe level. On the other hand, the number of facets in a circumferential direction affects sidelobe level only.

• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.347-354
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• 2018

Shape memory polymer composites have been studied for deployable antennas in space because they have advantages of lightweight, large deformability, good processability, and low cost. In this research, shape memory polymer composites (SMPCs) were manufactured using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcements and were used to fabricate SMPC antenna. The SMPCs were prepared by dispersing CNTs in the polymer matrix. Various dispersion methods were investigated to determine the most suitable one, focusing on the mechanical properties of SMPCs including their fracture behavior. The shape memory properties of SMPCs were measured and finally, the deployment behavior of the SMPC antenna was analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.691-699
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• 2022

Large aperture antennas with long focal lengths in space have important application for telecommunications, Earth observation and science missions. This paper aims to understand the dynamics of deployment of large mesh antennas and to provide a multibody model for determining the driving forces for the design of reflectors and booms. The modular deployable reflector and boom are designed based on the deployment unit cell. A multibody dynamic model is formulated with Kane's equation and simulated using the pseudo upper triangular decomposition (PUTD) method for solving the constrained problem. Based on the multibody dynamic model, the kinetics of the deployment, the motor driving forces, and the structural dynamic deformation are investigated.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1112-1115
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• 2019

This paper proposes a novel low-profile omni-directional microstrip antenna to mount on the deployable wing of the observation munition. The proposed antenna is designed on seven hexagonal resonators in a quasi-circular array to achieve a monopolar radiation pattern with a thin substrate. By employing the mesh ground structures, the resonant frequencies and impedance bandwidths of the proposed antenna is investigated. To verify the feasibility of the mesh ground structure, the thin ground wire width is investigated theoretically for improving the 3-dB fractional bandwidth, realized antenna gain and quality-factor. The proposed antenna demonstrates a good monopolar radiation in good agreement with the simulation results. The implemented prototype shows the measured bandwidth of 326 MHz with respect to 5.65% centered at 5.77 GHz and realized gain of 5.49 dBi at 5.84 GHz.