Cellular Optimization of Additively Produced Mirror Substrates for In-space Imaging

Cornerstone Research Group (CRG) will develop add-on capability for an existing in-house design tool for generation of lightweight telescope mirror substrates with optimized stiffness, mitigation of disrupting vibrational modes, and consideration of the thermal environment. Leveraging the production capabilities offered by additive manufacturing technologies and materials, CRG will establish a computational design process specifically suited for optical substrates. By performing topology optimization of conformal lattice structures, the overall mass can be significantly reduced while also driving the design to geometries exhibiting vibration damping by taking advantage of unique design methodologies. During Phase I, CRG will add objectives and constraints specifically for mirror substrate design based on identified requirements. Prototype structures will be fabricated using additive manufacturing and experimentally evaluated and compared to traditionally designed structures.