Structural analysis and test of an inflatable ground antenna

In order to realize the antenna system for emergency communication,a kind of advanced aperture inflatable deployable antenna was researched.The antenna composes of inflatable balloon,parabolic reflector,fixed cables and feed source.The parabolic reflector is formed by adjusting the air pressure difference between the upper hemisphere and the down one.The antenna can be inflated and adjusted to the work configuration in several minutes.A 1.35 m caliber parabolic reflector was designed by corresponding programs.The static and dynamic behaviors of this structure were investigated.The influence of inflatable pressure to the reflector distortion and the dynamic performance were analyzed.Surface precision was measured by PhotoModeler Pro.5 and the results show that the structure has an ideal precision.Also,non-contact synchronous vision measuring method was used to test the basic frequency of this structure;the test results match the analysis very well.All the work can provide guidance to the design of inflatable antennas.