Description
The objective of the activity is to develop rapid and flexible advanced manufacturing techniques, with a full digital workflow, forhigh volume production of complex-shaped composite reflector antennas from 1 to 3.5 metres in diameter.Targeted Improvements:Reduction in composite reflector manufacturing time by a factor of five in comparison to standard metallic mould processes.Description:Today, the manufacturing lead time of reflector antennas is typically up to one year. The main factors in this production time are twofold. Firstly, a highly accurate, profiled and bespoke (telecommunication mission dependent) moulding tool is designed and manufactured. Secondly, usually a highly manual laying up of CFRP fabrics is needed to form a cured reflector surface over the mould. Anorder of magnitude lead time reduction could be achieved if fast production of the reflector mould were possible and if manual manufacturing processes could be reduced/eliminated. Rapid, advanced manufacturing techniques (e.g., near-net shaped additive manufacturing followed by precision milling) for large and precise moulds for terrestrial applications, including aircraft parts, turbine blades, and boat hulls, are now available but have not been applied yet for space applications. Such mould manufacturing processes have the potential to significantly reduce the complexity of reflector production but need to be adapted to meet the precision and material requirements for space applications. Additionally, precise and automated CFRP layup over the mould by fibre placement is possible, reducing the need for manual operations.This activity will study and spin-in available terrestrial advanced manufacturing techniques for mould production and automated lay-up systems for telecommunication reflectors. Both polymer and metallic based moulds will be considered. A trade-off will be carried out and the selected advanced manufacturing processes will be developed into an end-to-end process complemented by a digital workflow. The end-to-end manufacturing process will be used to produce two breadboard demonstrators of different size and shape complexities, based on the requirements of typical telecommunication missions. These will be small (< 1 m diameter) and large (3 3.5 m diameter), complex (e.g. typical contoured surface) reflectors that will be designed, manufactured and tested. The breadboard testing will include RF, mechanical and thermal vacuum performance tests (including thermo-elastic deformation measurements). The performance of the reflectors will be critically assessed and compared against simulation results and requirements.