What is it about?
Composite materials are a popular choice in satellite antenna reflectors because they are stiff, strong, and lightweight. 3D printing of these composite materials is a potential avenue to improve the manufacturing process as well as increase design flexibility. We're advancing the adoption of 3D printing for these reflectors by presenting a new technology to make printing these sheets more viable by having accurate models of their behavior.
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Why is it important?
Our methodology for preparing computer models for these 3D printed thin shells is highly detailed and automated, and takes into account some of the unique artifacts of manufacturing composites in this way. It's a newer manufacturing technology, and by presenting accurate models, new designs can be optimized in a time-efficient way to enhance adoption. We found that mechanical behaviors of these shells can be predicted well, but also uncovered some unique effects of 3D printing that make modelling of behavior under a wide temperature range difficult.
Perspectives
This was a very enjoyable paper to prepare and write. My hope is that this presents a new advancement in the 3D printing space in a simple and approachable way and demonstrates its potential to revolutionize communications in space.
Nico Peters
University of Calgary
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Modelling Mechanical and Thermomechanical Behavior of Additively Manufactured Quasi-Woven Shells, January 2025, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2025-0616.
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