Design, analysis, manufacture and testing of composite corrugated horn for the spacecraft antenna system

A new design of composite corrugated horn of the spacecraft antenna is presented in this paper. The horn is made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic and is 2.4 times lighter and 1.3 times stiffer than its metal counterpart having the same antenna gain. The thickness of the horn shell is determined using the results of the finite-element modal analysis. A full scale physical prototype of the horn was built and tested. The structure has successfully passed stringent operational, vibration and thermal tests. The manufacturing technology and the test results are discussed in detail. It is demonstrated that the composite horn prototype has good dimensional stability and is capable of withstanding the dynamic loads and cyclic orbital thermal changes.