A bionic approach to mathematical modeling the fold geometry of deployable reflector antennas on satellites

Abstract

Inspired from biology, this study presents a method for designing the fold geometry of deployable reflectors. Since the space available inside rockets for transporting satellites with reflector antennas is typically cylindrical in shape, and its cross-sectional area is considerably smaller than the reflector antenna after deployment, the cross-sectional area of the folded reflector must be smaller than the available rocket interior space. Membrane reflectors in aerospace are a type of lightweight structure that can be packaged compactly. To design membrane reflectors from the perspective of deployment processes, bionic applications from morphological changes of plants are investigated. Creating biologically inspired reflectors, this paper deals with fold geometry of reflectors, which imitate flower buds. This study uses mathematical formulation to describe geometric profiles of flower buds. Based on the formulation, new designs for deployable membrane reflectors derived from bionics are proposed. Adjusting parameters in the formulation of these designs leads to decreases in reflector area before deployment. (C) 2014 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.