Wei Wang

As spectral resolution increases, the dimension of the Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) interferometer increases. The existing approach for stably mounting the interferometer is limited to mounting a normal-sized DASH interferometer. In this study, a novel and stable structure is proposed, with its effecti1veness exemplified for a near-infrared (NIR) DASH interferometer. The mathematical model of a flexible structure was established. The parameters of the support structure were optimized by requiring the mechanical stress of the flexible structure and shear stress at the bonding surface to be less than the strength value. The spring constants were optimally designed to adjust natural frequency and minimize stress. The finite element analysis (FEA) results show that the maximum mechanical stress was 65.56 MPa. The maximum shear stress was 3.4 MPa. All stress values had a high safety margin. The mechanical material and adhesive area were optimally designed. Therefore, the thermal resistance of the structure was improved by 7.5 times. The test results indicate that the proposed flexible support structure could satisfy the requirements of the launch environment. The results from FEA and vibration tests were consistent with the model calculation results. Compared to existing structures, the mechanical performance and thermal resistance were improved.

This paper presents a passive buffer system of connection mechanism for space-assembled segmented mirrors. The purpose of assembling telescope in space is to overcome the limits of launch volume and mass to support ever increasing aperture sizes. Using this buffer system, the docking impact between two mirror segments can be alleviated effectively. In this paper, first, a design methodology called “double-elastic contact model” is developed. Then, the design details and operation principle of the connection mechanism, are presented to validate the passive buffer system. Finally, by comparing the traditional docking system, the simulated results of dynamic performance show that the proposed buffer system can absorb the impact energy effectively and is considerably suitable for assembling the space optical system.

For a large-aperture space telescope, one of the key techniques is the method for designing the lightweight primary mirror assembly (PMA). In order to minimize the mirror surface error under axial gravity, lateral gravity, and polishing pressure at the same time, a method for topology optimization with multi-objective function combined with parametric optimization is introduced in this paper. The weighted compliance minimum is selected as the objective function to maximum the mirror structural stiffness. Then sensitivity analysis method and size optimization are used to determine the mirror structure parameters. Compared with two types of commonly used lightweight configurations, the new configuration design shows obvious superiority. In addition, the surface figure root mean square (RMS) of the mirror mounted by given bipod flexure (BF) under 1 g lateral gravity is minimized only with a value of 3.58 nm, which proves the effectiveness of the design method proposed in this paper.

This paper presents a connection mechanism for autonomous self-assembly of segmented space mirrors. Using this connection mechanism, space mirrors can be autonomously captured, positioned, locked and adjusted. The purpose of assembling space mirrors on orbit is to overcome the limits of launch volume and mass and provide a feasibility for future extremely large space telescope in order to improve optical performance to function as monolithic mirrors. In this paper, first, the design details and operation principle of the connection mechanism are presented. Then, based on the initial capture conditions, a double-contact model is investigated. And simulated results of the dynamic and optical performance show that the proposed mechanism overcomes significant alignment errors and is considered suitable for space optical system.