Analysis and testing of the surface accuracy of a large compact range reflector

Large compact antenna test ranges are important experimental facilities for realizing the test of satellite payloads, and the precision of its reflector surface is a key indicator for measuring and evaluating the performance of the compact range. Gravity deformation is one of the main factors affecting the precision of a reflector. The reflector of a large compact range is usually block designed. In this paper, the reflector is divided into four equal parts horizontally, which results in the bottom reflector bearing the self-weight of the upper reflectors. In actual production, it is necessary to complete a gravity loading test on the bottom reflector before manufacturing the other three upper reflectors. In order to resolve the issue of accurately performing the loading test on the bottom reflector without the other three upper segments, this paper proposes a method of designing an equivalent loading test for the bottom reflector through simulation and has completed the equivalent loading test. The test results show that the strain error between the test and simulation is within 20%, and the surface precision error is 10%. The effectiveness of the simulation analysis method is verified by the comparison of simulation analysis and loading test.