Design evaluation of a large deployable mesh reflector

The deployment force over the deployment resistance force must: be considered in the deployment force design of deployable mesh reflectors. Deployment tests are usually conducted on the ground using gravitational force compensation to evaluate the deployment force design. The design evaluations resulting from deployment tests using a test object with a diameter of 7 m are described. Twenty-four magnetically suspended sliders were also used to suspend the test object to reduce the frictional loss of horizontal motion and to compensate for gravitational force. The deployment force is designed as three times the mesh reaction force and is generated by helical coil springs. The complete deployment performance is confirmed by three deployment tests. An increase in the deployment resistance force is verified through asynchronous deployment of the deployable structures and the gravitational force compensation error of the mesh surface. Surface accuracy tests and static load tests under the same configurations as the deployment test were conducted to confirm that a large deployable mesh reflector with a 1.0-mm-rms error surface and 0.13-Hz structural rigidity can be achieved.