Structural modeling and analysis method of the active main reflector of the Qitai radio telescope based on a simplified actuator

Abstract

Herein, the structural modeling and adjustment analysis of the active main reflector of the Xinjiang 110-m Qitai radio telescope (QTT) are performed. First, a simplified actuator is introduced in the QTT antenna structure model, and the active main reflector structural model, including the simplified actuator, is established. Second, the actuator direction of the deformable antenna under the action of external load is obtained from the structural model. Further, by assuming a rigid actuator, active adjustment is further simplified as the finite element constraint equation where the panel support points adjust to the specified displacements along the actuator direction. Finally, the QTT radio telescope model is simulated based on the proposed method. The difference between the calculation results of the proposed method and the simulation results of ANSYS is about 10 −9 mm, which indicates the effectiveness of the proposed method. This work provides a reference for the accurate analysis of the active adjustment of radio telescope antennas by the proposed method.radio telescope, simplified actuator, structural analysis, active adjustment