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Results for “parabolic reflectors”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

The design of blended rolled edges for compact range main reflectors

In a compact range (which employs a parabolic main reflector to convert the spherical wave originating from a point source to a reflected plane wave) the edge-generated diffractive fields degrade the uniformity of the plane wave. To reduce the energy diffracted from the edge surfaces, terminations can be added to the parabola, such that the slope of the surface is continuous at the junctions. This paper discusses the problem of designing an optimized rolled edge. Two examples of reflectors with rolled edges are presented, one with elliptic rolled edges and the other with blended rolled edges, both adhering to the same constraints on minimum operating frequency and size. It was found that the reflector with the cosine-squared blended rolled edges has a much larger usable target zone than the one with the elliptic rolled edges.

Pistorius, C. W. I.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Hybrid Synthetic/Real Aperture Antenna for High Resolution Microwave Imaging

Observations of key hydrological parameters at the spatial and temporal scales required in the post-2002 era face significant technological challenges. These measurements are based on relatively low frequency thermal microwave emission (at 1.4 GHz for soil moisture and salinity, 10 GHz and up for precipitation, and 19 and 37 GHz for snow). The long wavelengths at these frequencies coupled with the high spatial and radiometric resolutions required by the various global hydrology missions necessitate the use of very large apertures. Two-dimensional Synthetic Thinned Array Radiometry (2-D STAR), though promising in the long term, has many technical challenges in the areas of power, and sensitivity for very large apertures (i.e. greater than 300 wavelengths). This paper will discuss an alternative approach to the pure 2-D STAR, which uses an offset parabolic cylinder reflector fed by multiple elements to form a 1-D STAR. In essence a single STAR element is composed of a feedhorn and parabolic cylinder reflector. The elements are sparsely arrayed and thus can share a single reflector. This antenna would have no moving parts once deployed, have much higher sensitivity than a Y-shaped 2-D STAR of equivalent size, many fewer receivers than that 2-D STAR, and the reflector could be made of a thin film and lightweight deployment system for high packing density. The instrument using this approach would be a cross track push broom imager. An overview of the design parameters, potential deployment mechanisms and applications will be presented.

Doiron, Terence A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Case study of sample spacing in planar near-field measurement of high gain antennas

Far field antenna patterns can be reconstructed from planar near field measurements acquired at a sample spacing of lambda/2 or less. For electrically large antennas, sampling at the Nyquist rate may result in errors due to system electronic drift over long acquisition times. The computer capacity may limit the largest size of the near field data set. The requirement to sample at the Nyquist rate is relaxed for high gain antennas which concentrate most of the radiated energy into a small angular region of the far field. The criteria for sample spacing at greater than lambda/e through the use of a priori information of the antenna radiation characteristics are presented. Far field patterns of a 30 GHz dual offset reflector system with a 2.7 m parabolic main reflector are computed from near field data obtained at sample spacings ranging from 0.1 lambda to 10 lambda. The effects of sampling interval and spectrum cutoff on the far field patterns are discussed.

Acosta, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A comparison between GO/aperture-field and physical-optics methods for offset reflectors

Both geometrical optics (GO)/aperture-field and physical-optics (PO) methods are used extensively in the diffraction analysis of offset parabolic and dual reflectors. An analytical/numerical comparative study is performed to demonstrate the limitations of the GO/aperture-field method for accurately predicting the sidelobe and null positions and levels. In particular, it is shown that for offset parabolic reflectors and for feeds located at the focal point, the predicted far-field patterns (amplitude) by the GO/aperture-field method will always be symmetric even in the offset plane. This, of course, is inaccurate for the general case and it is shown that the physical-optics method can result in asymmetric patterns for cases in which the feed is located at the focal point. Representative numerical data are presented and a comparison is made with available measured data.

Rahmat-Samii, Y.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Nanolaminate Membranes as Cylindrical Telescope Reflectors

A document discusses a proposal to use axially stretched metal nanolaminate membranes as lightweight parabolic cylindrical reflectors in the Dual Anamorphic Reflector Telescope (DART) - a planned spaceborne telescope in which the cylindrical reflectors would be arranged to obtain a point focus. The discussion brings together a combination of concepts reported separately in several prior NASA Tech Briefs articles, the most relevant being "Nanolaminate Mirrors With Integral Figure-Control Actuators" NPO -30221, Vol. 26, No. 5 (May 2002), page 90; and "Reflectors Made From Membranes Stretched Between Beams" NPO -30571, Vol. 33, No. 10 (October 2009), page 11a. The engineering issues receiving the greatest emphasis in the instant document are (1) the change in curvature associated with the Poisson contraction of a stretched nanolaminate reflector membrane and (2) the feasibility of using patches of poly(vinylidene fluoride) on the rear membrane surface as piezoelectric actuators to correct the surface figure for the effect of Poisson contraction and other shape errors.

Dooley, Jennifer↗
NASA NTRS2010

A One-Dimensional Synthetic-Aperture Microwave Radiometer

A proposed one-dimensional synthetic- aperture microwave radiometer could serve as an alternative to either the two-dimensional synthetic-aperture radiometer described in the immediately preceding article or to a prior one-dimensional one, denoted the Electrically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer (ESTAR), mentioned in that article. The proposed radiometer would operate in a pushbroom imaging mode, utilizing (1) interferometric cross-track scanning to obtain cross-track resolution and (2) the focusing property of a reflector for along-track resolution. The most novel aspect of the proposed system would be the antenna (see figure), which would include a cylindrical reflector of offset parabolic cross section. The reflector could be made of a lightweight, flexible material amenable to stowage and deployment. Other than a stowage/deployment mechanism, the antenna would not include moving parts, and cross-track scanning would not entail mechanical rotation of the antenna. During operation, the focal line, parallel to the cylindrical axis, would be oriented in the cross-track direction, so that placement of receiving/radiating elements at the focal line would afford the desired along-track resolution. The elements would be microwave feed horns sparsely arrayed along the focal line. The feed horns would be oriented with their short and long cross-sectional dimensions parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the cylindrical axis to obtain fan-shaped beams having their broad and narrow cross-sectional dimensions parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the cylindrical axis. The interference among the beams would be controlled in the same manner as in the ESTAR to obtain along-cylindrical- axis (cross-track) resolution and cross-track scanning.

Doiron, Terence↗
NASA NTRS1990

Lunar radiators with specular reflectors

A unique radiator, suitable for use in relatively hot thermal environments such as the moon, has been devised and analyzed. The radiator uses a parabolic specular reflector to deflect the solar rays and to shield the radiator from the hot lunar soil. It can provide sink temperatures on the order of 147 K and effective emittances approximately equal to the emittance of the surface of the radiator. Similar performance can be obtained on sun-oriented spacecraft that have a limited view of space.

Costello, Frederick A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Isogrid Membranes for Precise, Singly Curved Reflectors

A new type of composite material has been proposed for membranes that would constitute the reflective surfaces of planned lightweight, single-curvature (e.g., parabolic cylindrical) reflectors for some radar and radio-communication systems. The proposed composite materials would consist of polyimide membranes containing embedded grids of highstrength (e.g., carbon) fibers. The purpose of the fiber reinforcements, as explained in more detail below, is to prevent wrinkling or rippling of the membrane.

Fang, Houfei↗
NASA NTRS1982

Cassegrain dual reflector antenna design

A folded optics reflector system could mitigate problems associated with the pointability and controllability of the large UHF antenna for MSAT. Such a system is comprised of a parabolic main reflector and a hyperboloidal subreflector (Cassegrain arrangement) or an ellipsoidal subreflector (Gregorian arrangement), either of which brings the feed closer to the main reflector. By shaping the subreflector and the main reflector, an improved scan capability might be achieved and the size of the required feed aperture-per-beam could be reduced. In such a shaped dual reflector system, the need for overlapping cluster feed arrangement and its concomitant beam forming network could be removed. In this system, a relatively low gain feed element together with the shaped subreflector would be sufficient to produce the required high illumination taper that at the main reflector.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Some Solutions for the Large Deflections of Uniformly Loaded Circular Membranes

Inconsistent citations in the literature and questions about convergence prompt reexamination of Hencky's classic solution for the large deflections of a clamped, circular isotropic membrane under uniform pressure. This classic solution is observed actually to be for uniform lateral loading because the radial component of the pressure acting on the deformed membrane is neglected. An algebraic error in Hencky's solution is corrected, additional terms are retained in the power series to assess convergence, and results are obtained for two additional values of Poisson's ratio. To evaluate the importance of the neglected radial component of the applied pressure, the problem is reformulated with this component included and is solved, with escalating algebraic complexity, by a similar power-series approach. The two solutions agree quite closely for lightly loaded membranes and diverge slowly as the load intensifies. Differences in maximum stresses and deflections are substantial only when stresses are very high. The more nearly spherical deflection shape of the membrane under true pressure loading suggests that a near-parabolic membrane reflector designed on the basis of the more convenient Hencky theory would not perform as well as expected. In addition, both theories are found to yield closed-form, nonuniform membrane-thickness distributions that produce parabolic middle-surface deflections under loading. Both distributions require that the circular boundary expand radially in amounts that depend on material and loading parameters.

Fichter, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Experimental evaluation of a solar concentrator

A program concerned with the development of a large scale solar concentrator/collector subsystem is considered. Distributed collector approaches are related to the use of a parabolic mirror, a Fresnel reflector, and a Fresnel lens. A system description is given, taking into account questions of turbine interface selection and aspects of collector field layout. Performance sensitivity studies on particular components and parameters are discussed along with performance data which have been obtained for parabolic reflector, Fresnel lens, and Fresnel reflector concentrators. Attention is given to details regarding the design, the operation, and the status of development of the collection subsystem which is being developed.

Hastings, L. J.↗