Electrical analysis of light-weight, triangular weave reflector antennas

The new light-weight reflector antenna technology being developed by several spacecraft companies requires accurate electromagnetic modelling of the reflector surface properties. In particular, the new tri-axially woven fibre skins are of interest.

In a recent study for ESTEC a new computer program has been developed in a co-operation between TICRA and Politecnico di Torino. The name of the program is MESTIS, MEtallic STrIps Simulator, and by means of this it is possible to model one or more layers of strip grids and each layer can consist of up to three strip grids making arbitrary angles with each other. In this way it is possible in particular to model the new triangular weave materials.

Publication: 25th Antenna Technology Workshop Digest
Place: ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 18-20 September 2002