Real-time Closed-loop Active Surface Technology of a Large Radio Telescope

The surface accuracy of a large radio telescope’s primary reflector is easily affected by gravity and temperature change during observations. An active surface system is crucial to ensure the regular operation and high-quality data output of the radio telescope. We propose a real-time closed-loop active surface system including two components. The first component, a new type of photoelectric edge sensor, detects the angle change of the adjacent panels. The second component, the displacement actuator, adjusts the panels’ position and posture to compensate for the angle changes. So, over the entire observation, the closed-loop surface control system with these two components could actively maintain the primary reflector’s accuracy in real time. Using this approach, we constructed an experimental active surface system for the Xinjiang Qitai 110 m Radio Telescope (QTT) to test the maintenance of the surface accuracy. The angle measurement accuracy is better than 0.″2, and the positioning accuracy of the displacement actuator could achieve ±15 μm over the whole 50 mm stroke. The preliminary test results show that the accuracy requirements of the QTT’s primary reflector surface can be met using the active surface system we propose.

Theoretical Modeling and Machining Experiments of Cylindrical Microstructure Assisted by Single Point Diamond Turning

Micro structure requires nanometer-scale surface roughness and micro- or even sub-micron form error accuracy in different applications. Two kinds of modeling theories and methods of micro-feature of rotating body and non-rotating body are studied, and the corresponding tool turning trajectory planning method is put forward. In order to process the designed micro-feature structure successfully and avoid the interference and overcutting between tool and workpiece caused by improper selection of tool parameters, the cutting parameters are analyzed and two error theories are proposed. Then a precision driven turning trajectory planning method is proposed, which can optimize the turning parameters according to the setting error and then optimize the trajectory. The experiments are carried out to verify the proposed theory. The surface roughness and surface accuracy of the features were measured by Talysurf PGI 1240 and KEYENCE vhx900 respectively. The surface roughness and surface accuracy of the cylindrical sine wave groove micro feature surface are 0.1714µm and 1.32µm respectively. The surface roughness and surface accuracy of the cylindrical sinusoidal mesh micro feature surface are 0.1625µm and 1.8µm respectively. The results meet expectations and verify the reliability of the error theory and the trajectory optimization theory.

Surface accuracy optimization of mechanical parts with multiple circular holes for additive manufacturing based on triangular fuzzy number

Surface accuracy directly affects the surface quality and performance of mechanical parts. Circular hole, especially spatial non-planar hole set is the typical feature and working surface of mechanical parts. Compared with traditional machining methods, additive manufacturing (AM) technology can decrease the surface accuracy errors of circular holes during fabrication. However, an accuracy error may still exist on the surface of circular holes fabricated by AM due to the influence of staircase effect. This study proposes a surface accuracy optimization approach for mechanical parts with multiple circular holes for AM based on triangular fuzzy number (TFN). First, the feature lines on the manifold mesh are extracted using the dihedral angle method and normal tensor voting to detect the circular holes. Second, the optimal AM part build orientation is determined using the genetic algorithm to optimize the surface accuracy of the circular holes by minimizing the weighted volumetric error of the part. Third, the corresponding weights of the circular holes are calculated with the TFN analytic hierarchy process in accordance with the surface accuracy requirements. Lastly, an improved adaptive slicing algorithm is utilized to reduce the entire build time while maintaining the forming surface accuracy of the circular holes using digital twins via virtual printing. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is experimentally validated using two mechanical models.