Thermal design and simulation of space-borne membrane antenna.

Thermal deformation of space-borne radar antenna caused by dramatic changes in orbit thermal environment has a serious effect on image qualities. In this paper, the NX TMG module was used to simulate the orbit thermal environment of the antenna, and a thermal control design was proposed. The thermal control structure consists of three layers; the top is a radiator with high emissivity surface, the middle is a multi-layer insulation, and the bottom is a highly reflective layer. The simulation results show that the thermal design could reduce the temperature gradient from 238.1 to 31.4 °C effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]