Tie-System Calibration for the Experimental Setup of Large Deployable Reflectors

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

the trade-off between design phase and experimental setup is important to satisfy the accuracy requirement of any large deployable reflectors. authors proposed two calibration methods for rigid  and flexible ring truss support .

the geometry data, node coordinates are measured. it is difficulty to establish static equilibrium, author calculate L0 array, how to evaluate and validate its accuracy.

Equation 1, the cable and tie could be different, thus superscript  and  direction should be written separately?                                             

Author Response

Thanks for  the comment. In eq. (1) the static equilibrium is not guaranteed not for computational difficulties, but because of the errors present in the L0    term. These are mainly due to the measurement error expressed by the cable supplier and to the errors generated during the cable assembly phases. As already remarked in the Introduction, the recent optical measuring instruments allowed to obtain an accuracy up to the order of micron. It is obvious, therefore, that the measurement error of the nodes is lower than those mentioned above. Through a constrained optimization problem, imposing a tolerance of the order of 10^-6, we make sure to find the optimal value of L0 that satisfies the static equilibrium. The accuracy of L0, therefore, is guaranteed both by the high performance of optical measurement systems and by the tolerance of the optimization method.

Thanks for the comment. The parameter that identifies the lengths has been split into Lc and Lt for cables and ties, respectively.

Reviewer 2 Report

Reviewer’s Comments

In this paper, the authors proposed a method for the calibration of the tie-systems that play a fundamental role in the large deployable reflectors. The topic addressed in this investigation is within the scope of this important journal. The paper is well-written and well-analyzed. The results presented in the paper are clear and sound. Therefore, I recommend the publication of the paper in its present form.

Author Response

Thanks for your comments.

Reviewer 3 Report

I don't have any suggestions to give to authors. Material presented is enough

Author Response

Thanks for your comments.

Reviewer 4 Report

The work presents a couple of interesting strategies for the optimization of the calibration of large deployable reflectors that meet the requirement of accuracy.

Author Response

Thanks for your comments.