Active shape adjustment of cable net structures with PZT actuators

• Published in: Aerospace science and technology Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 160 - 168
• Main Authors: Wang, Zuowei, Li, Tuanjie, Cao, Yuyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Issy-les-Moulineaux Elsevier SAS 01.04.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Active shape adjustment; Antennas; Applied sciences; Cable net structure; Exact sciences and technology; Finite element method; PZT actuator; Radiocommunications; Satellite telecommunications. Space telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Finite element method; PZT actuator; Active shape adjustment; Cable net structure; Satellite antennas; Piezoelectric device; Telecommunication satellite; Numerical simulation; Modeling; Actuator
• ISSN: 1270-9638; 1626-3219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2012.03.001

Active shape adjustment of cable net structures is becoming significant when large-size cable net structures are widely applied in various fields, especially in satellite antennas. The main objective of this paper is three-fold. First, the finite element model of cable net structure with active cables is established. The active cable is constructed by incorporating a PZT actuator into flexible cables. Second, based on the finite element model, the shape adjustment method is proposed to find the optimal actuation voltages for the desired shape. The adjustment models include an analytical solution without constraints and two optimization models with constraints which are evaluated by the quadratic criterion and minmax scheme respectively. Finally, the numerical examples of the flexible cable net structure widely applied to the parabolic reflectors of space antennas have been analyzed. It is found that the quadratic criterion performs better than the minmax scheme for solving shape adjustment problem of cable net structures, and the surface accuracy of the cable net structure with active cables can be well improved by PZT actuators.