Actuator layout design with gain-oriented modal selection for sectional offset reflector antennas

• Published in: Structural and multidisciplinary optimization Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 1909 - 1924
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shuxin, Liu, Zihan, Bao, Hong, Song, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Active control; Actuators; Antennas; Computational Mathematics and Numerical Analysis; Configuration management; Electromagnetic properties; Engineering; Engineering Design; Layouts; Modal choice; Reflector antennas; Research Paper; Shape control; Structural design; Structural vibration; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Vibration analysis; Modal selection; Reflector antennas; Layout design; Gain performance
• ISSN: 1615-147X; 1615-1488
• DOI: 10.1007/s00158-021-02950-y

Actuator layout design is a vital procedure that is implemented to ensure active compensation for shape control in the design of active reflector antennas. Considering both the structural and electromagnetic properties of sectional offset reflector antennas, an actuator layout design method is proposed that incorporates a gain-oriented modal selection procedure. The modes are selected to represent the deformed surface shapes by combining the multidisciplinary contributions of both electromagnetic gain performance and structural vibration analysis. An offset reflector antenna with sectional panels is chosen as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness and generality of this proposed method. The simulation shows that compared with the design applied in a simple structural discipline, different modes are obtained by the gain-oriented modal selection procedure, and the proposed method is used to establish different actuator layout configurations with an improved performance requiring fewer actuators than the simple structural design.