A Design Method of Carbon Fiber Honeycomb Core Reflector Based on Thermal Coupling Deformation

Thermal coupling deformation is a critical challenge for high-precision, high-thermal-stability carbon fiber honeycomb core reflectors. This study proposes a comprehensive design method for such reflectors based on thermal coupling deformation. Three typical honeycomb core cell configurations are first compared to select an appropriate basic cell. The equivalent mechanical properties of the selected honeycomb core are then evaluated to establish the relationship between structural parameters and reflector thermal coupling deformation. An Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) is subsequently used to optimize the honeycomb core height, cell edge length, number of skin plies, and ply angles while accounting for practical engineering constraints, including curing pressure and dead-weight deformation. The influence of manufacturing-induced ply angle deviations is further investigated, and a recommended process tolerance is identified. Finally, the optimized 2 m class reflector is evaluated through full-scale numerical simulation and thermal deformation testing. The predicted thermal deformation remains below 8 μm RMS at −120 °C. The measured RMS thermal deformations under uniform temperature fields at +120 °C and −120 °C were 6.8 and 7.2 μm, respectively. The differences between the estimated combined values and the experimental measurements are discussed in relation to the numerical predictions, testing system deviation, dead-weight deformation, and variability associated with ply angle deviations. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed to inform future work.