The verification test of thermal distortion decoupling design for single panel of space micro-strip array antenna

This paper studied the structural characters of space micro-strip array antenna. It is analyzed how the thermal stress between the panel and the metal feed line (TEM line) at the back greatly affects the distortion of single panel. To verifying the effectiveness of decoupling design for thermal distortion, a verification test in low temperature and in vacuum is designed with measuring the strain on the surface of TEM line. The verification test has been done for two completely assembling panels with thermal decoupling-design. The methodology, testing facility and procedure and parameters of the test are described in detail. The curves of the test verify the tightness of the test method. The strain results show the thermal-decoupling design is effective for the space micro-strip array antenna.