Fast Pattern Calculation of Rib Reflectors With Varying Surface Distortions

An investigation on fast pattern calculation of rib reflectors is presented in this paper with varying surface distortions. In the beginning, a combined finite element meshing procedure is proposed by best-fit paraboloid and weighting feed primary pattern. An approximation formula for fast pattern calculation is derived on the basis of rib surface with a refocused feed and authors' previous work. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 0.5 m axis-symmetrical rib reflector at Ka-band for CubeSat application is employed. To further illustrate the benefits of fast pattern calculation, a time-varying distortion is introduced. By employing the proposed formula, less pattern computation time is obtained with an acceptable accuracy. Furthermore, incorporating structural parameters into this rib reflector, the structural dynamic deformation is demonstrated and its influence on radiation pattern is revealed. The results show that the proposed method can handle the varying distortions, which are in closed form or obtained from structural finite element analysis with a good accuracy by less computation time.