Optimization of 110 m Aperture Fully Steerable Radio Telescope Prestressed Back Frame Structure Based on a Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

Radio telescopes play an important role in lunar exploration projects, manned space flight projects, and navigation systems. China is constructing a giant 110 m aperture ground-based fully steerable radio telescope in Qitai County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In this paper, a 110 m aperture fully steerable radio telescope prestressed back frame structure is proposed and optimized to improve the reflector accuracy and to reduce the weight of the telescope. First, prestressed cables are introduced into the back frame structure, and three innovative cable layout schemes are presented. Second, for stress state analysis, the wind pressure distribution on the main reflector is explored using wind tunnel experiments. Third, some improvements in genetic algorithms for addressing computational complexity are explained. Finally, the effects of prestressed cables on the weight reduction and reflector accuracy improvement are analysed. Additionally, in order to evaluate the safety of the prestressed back frame structure, its strength has been checked, and the internal force and displacement under static conditions and in earthquakes are interpreted in detail.