Design of a morphing skin using flexible fiber composites for space-reconfigurable reflectors

A number of aerospace structural applications with intended shape variation require different kinds of morphing skins for fulfillment of diverse requirements. An example of such a morphing skin application is a space-reconfigurable reflector antenna of a telecommunication satellite. Reconfigurable reflectors can replace the typical configuration of several shaped reflectors and satellites with a single reflector and, thereby, enhance coverage performance to several needed areas of the Earth during a single lifetime in orbit. Thus, their application promises huge cost savings. Design of the reflector morphing skin, being a focus of the paper, is a challenging task because besides the ability to morph they have to satisfy mechanical and radio frequency stringent requirements. Material selection, tailoring of the material properties based on numerical and experimental studies, improving radio frequency characteristics and deriving the potential concept of the mechanically reconfigurable reflector are addressed in the paper. Reshaping performance is discussed based on comparison of target and achieved shapes. Final achieved shapes are acquired with an established optimization procedure coupling RF and structural behaviors.