A FEM Based on the Parametric Variational Principle for the Cable-network Antenna's Form-finding Design

According to the form-finding of the flexible cable-network antenna, a new form-finding analysis approach based on FEM is presented. A parametric variable and Co-rotational formulation are used to model antenna's constitutive nonlinearity and geometrical nonlinearity, and then the FEM governing equation is established. In order to improve the convergence ability, the Lemke algorithm combined with the improved Newton method is employed to solve the governing equation. The method is applied for nonlinear form-finding analysis of cable-network antenna and an ideal configuration is obtained. The research shows that the method can also be applied for studying other similar antennas. (paper)