Design and Analysis of Multi-body Parallel Grouping Antenna

Ultra-large deployable antenna is one of the key equipment for space missions. Currently, it is difficult for the configurations of antennas to meet the requirements of strong expandability and high foldability when the diameter reaches 50 m. A design scheme for a high extensibility and ultra-high foldability deployable antenna is proposed, where its dynamic and deployment performance is studied and experimentally validated. A two-layer topology configuration design based on reverse generation is firstly proposed by grouping corresponding module units through connecting units. A finite element model was established, and the structural modal analysis was carried out. Finally, based on the prototype tests, the rationality of the designed antenna scheme is studied and verified. The study shows that the proposed multi-body antenna design can achieve a compact diameter of less than 5 m while having an expanded diameter greater than 50 m. The fundamental frequency of the structure is greater than 0.01 Hz, and the deployable mechanism can be deployed successfully. The research results provide corresponding methods for the design and theoretical analysis of the mechanism of ultra-large deployable antenna.