Parameter matching design method to keep the asymmetrical astromesh reflector surface stable

The asymmetrical astromesh reflector surface is unstable when the space thermal environment is changing. To solve the problem, the article deduces two formulae that are required for stability design of the astromesh reflector network under a thermal load. According to the formulae, to keep horizontal stability, both the front net and the rear net of the astromesh reflector net should be designed with equal tension. The article presents a form-finding method to design equal tension cable networks, based on the steepest descent algorithm. The method has a better convergence than the one based on the direct iteration. To keep vertical stability, the cross section areas of rear net cable and front net cable should be match-designed. The design method described in the article is validated by the finite element method. The result shows that the asymmetrical astromesh reflector network designed by the method has a wonderful stability under an extreme thermal load.