Solr Energy Vol. No.6. pp. 35-37, 181 Printed in Gratin ose-sn xr css.ons7 00 © 198 Pergamon ress Le PARABOLIC REFLECTORS FORMED BY INFLATION R. N. BRACEWELL and K. M. PRICET Department of Electrical Engineering, Sta inford University, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A. (Received 2 February 1981; accepted 20 May 1981) Abstract—Paraboloids of revolution over 1 meter in diameter have been formed from flat sheets by inflation Without the use of a mold or template. Quality is adequate for microwave use and for most high-concentration applications for focusing solar energy. The process is sti lengths and diameters, but could also be automated for INTRODUCTION Parabolic reflectors a few meters in diameter are required for a number of purposes such as microwave relay antennas, solar concentrators, searchlight mirrors, and astronomical telescopes. The cost is extremely high for telescope mirrors where surface accuracy of a frac- tion of an optical wavelength is required, but even where surface tolerance may be relaxed to Imm or so, as with centimeter-wave antennas, the cost is not low. For example, the cost will generally be orders of magnitude higher than the material cost. The reason for this lies with the mode of manufacture. Several techniques depend upon the construction of a steel mold or dies, as with vacuum forming and pressing (sheet metal), a graphite mold (glass slumping) or a mold made from plaster or other soft material (fiberglass). The initial cost of the mold is substantial and has to be spread over the number of reflectors manufactured. An unattractive fea- ture of a valuable mold is that the focal length is frozen so that no flexibility is gained that might allow the mold to be adapted to other focal lengths later. Templates are cheaper than molds and have been used for spinning microwave antennas from sheet metal. Composite paraboloids up to Sm in diameter have been built from identical spherical segments in cases where one or two optical reflectors have been needed, and even machining from solid metal has been the ‘economical way to go in some cases. Even so, when only a few reflectors of special dimensions are needed, there has been no really economical process available. In some fields, such as solar energy, economic considerations are paramount. We have therefore looked into a moldless clamp-and- inflate fabrication method for sheet metal reflectors. First we describe the method, then we study the design parameters and report on tests that have been carried out. BASIC METHOD In Fig. 1, we see two pieces of sheet metal M clamped between two circular steel rings R. Fluid under pressure is introduced between the plates through a valve V, forcing the sheets apart. The stress in the sheet metal HISES member. table for making reflectors in ones or twos to special focal production runs tises beyond the elastic limit and plastic flow sets in as the assembly inflates like a balloon, When the desired amount of dishing is reached, the valve is closed, and the pressure is released. This procedure is more direct than inflation of collapsible molds[1}, inflation of membranes to which solidifiable substances can be applied(2], or pumping up of a membrane that shapes epoxy resin to which hardener may be added|3]. DESIGN PARAMETERS At first sight it might seem that rather high pressures might be needed to plastically deform a substantial volume of sheet metal, but in fact readily available and relatively safe tire-inflation pressures are found to suflic. Let D=refiector diameter; F = focal length; 8 =rim slope angle = arctan (47D); a = semiangle subtended at focus = aresin {AID (0.125 +2(1D}")); and 5 = depth of parabola =F D\(2tana). The foregoing quantities specify the parabolic geometry (Fig. 2). In the example worked out we consider a 1.12m diameter reflector with a 112m focal length. For this case, 8 = 76°, a = 28° and 6=7Tom. Further quantities are as_ follow: heet_ metal thickness; p =fluid pressure; f, = yield stress of sheet metal; L = axial load; and T; = tension in sheet metal per unit length at rim. The pressure p acting on a circular area of diameter D produces an axial load L given by L=(n/4)D*p. a In equilibrium this must also equal the axial component T, sin B acting on the perimeter «D, so aDT, cos B = L, Q) and, if the yield stress is just reached, f= Tilt 6) Combining these equations we find that the pressure required to take the metal into plastic deformation is, P=4f,(D) cos B. (4) If we use 1100-O aluminum, whose yield stress is 35 MPa 535536 RN. Bracewet and K. M. PRICE Fig, 1. Fluid admitted under pressure through valve V inflates sheet metal Mf held between clamping rings R. Fig. 2. Geometry of 2 paraboloid. The center of curvature of the sphere touching the paraboloid at its vertex is at and a thickness of 3mm, we find that the pressure p needed is 100kPa (15psi). On the other hand if we use 15mm cold-rolled steel sheet with a yield stress of 262 MPa, then we need a pressure of 360 kPa (52 psi). On the basis of these modest calculated pressures we were encouraged to make experimental trials. FABRICATION TESTS ‘Two tests will be described in detail. The first used a pair of 0.9 m (3S-in.) diameter steel clamping rings made of 12.7 mm square bar bent into rings by passing through rollers and welding. Material was 6061-0 aluminum 2 mm (0.080 in.) thick. The rings were held together with 44 high strength 4.83mm (10-32) steel screws. The two sheets were each inflated to a height of Sem. Over- pressure is convenient to speed up the inflation forming, and gasket cement was found necessary in order to counter leakage. Two satisfactory dishes resulted which were very stiff and could be walked on without damage Thus the possibility of fabricating reflectors with such modest tooling as a pair of clamp rings was confirmed. In order to investigate the method itself in more detail a more elaborate fixture was constructed in the form of a 1.2m (48-in.) diameter circular table 22.4 mm thick with 36 bolt holes for 19mm (3/4in.) bolts and a valve. A clamping ring Sem wide by 1.9¢m thick and 1.2m out- side diameter was provided. This new installation bypasses effects due to flexibility of the clamping system itself and to the insertion of the valve in one sheet, c Several satisfactory 1.12 m (44-in.) reflectors were formed with a height of 7.5 em from 6061-0 aluminum 2 mm thick and 1100-0 aluminum 3 mm thick. SHAPE MEASUREMENTS Very smooth shapes were produced which in the radial cross sections examined showed root-mean-square departures of about 0.5 mm from the paraboloid of best fit, At a wavelength of 30mm, rms errors of about 3 mm. are tolerable, so for microwave antenna applications the shape is essentially perfect. Some astigmatism resulted from the fact that the yield stress was higher in the direction in which the aluminum sheet was rolled in the course of manufacture, and with hardened alloys this, effect was even more noticeable. A paraboloid is soft against deflection of the rim into an ellipse and for this, reason needs a stiff mounting ring at or near the rim. The astigmatism is easily taken out as the reflector is fixed to its mount. There is no reason to think that plastic deformation under fixed pressure will lead to a paraboloidal shape, in fact a spherical shape would be the equil axisymmetric surface for homogeneous isotropic material in the absence of flexural rigidity. However, there is not much difference between a sphere and a paraboloid in our shape range as may be verified by comparing the parabola y*=4.48x with the circle (x— 2.24 + y? = (2.24)*. For example, at the rim y = 0.56 m, we have x =7.00cm for the parabola and x =7.12.em forParabolic reflectors formed by inflation 3a Fig. 3. A finished reflector (left) and a reflector about to be released from its clamping ring (righ). the circle, a discrepancy of only 1.12mm. The parabola of best fit to the given circle would agree even more closely with an average departure of only about 0.3 mm. Although we have made our surface shape measure- ments to within 0.3 mm, it is clearly a matter of some refinement to ascertain the exact shape achieved by clamp-inflate forming. OPTICAL PERFORMANCE, ‘The 1.12m reflector of 1100-0 aluminum 3mm thick was covered with Scotchcal chrome film 0.13 mm (0.005 in.) thick. The very smooth surface achieved is apparent in Fig. 3. Exposure to incident sunlight revealed a hot focal area | cm in diameter and essentially all light was received on a 2cm circle, Ideal theoretical area concentrationt for a paraboloid with F/D = 0.9 would be 9000. CONCLUSION Clamp-inflate forming of parabolic reflectors has been demonstrated as a feasible and economical method of fabrication. The quality achieved is immediately adequate for microwave antennas and some solar energy applications. The highest possible concentrations as may be required for thermophotovoltaic conversion of sun- light to electricity [5-9] may also be reachable. More tests under controlled conditions with accurate surface shape ‘tArea concentration is defined as the ratio of the concentrator aperture area to the receiver area, At high concentration, area concentration may differ substantially from the commonly quoted “ux concentration”, the ratio of the flux density at a point in the receiver plane to the flux density in the aperture plane [4] measurements will be necessary to establish the full potentiality for high precision, For small numbers, ring clamps are suggested, but for production runs of a cer- tain length the convenience of a table and one ring would pay. Fittings such as vice grips could be used instead of, screws to speed things up. For long production runs an automatic ring clamping press and guillotine can be im- agined together with automatic inflation and a height measuring microswiteh to halt inflation. Acknowledgements—Mechanical construction of the tooling described was carried out by Me. Cat! Crisp. Funds were pro- vided by Professor John G. Linvill, Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department, and by Professor William C. Reynolds, Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University. [REFERENCES USS. Patent 3,184,210, USS, Patent 3,337,660. . U.S. Patent 3,251,908, 8. Zwerdling, Concentrator technology group report. Proc. of Department of Energy Photovoltaic Concentrator Workshop, p. 126, Scottsdale, Arizona, 24-26 May 197). 5. R.N. Bracewell, Thermophotovoltaic project. Report ER-283- SR, Electric Power Research Institute, 2, ¥7-1-17-3 (March 1976), 6, R.M. Swanson and R. N. Bracewell, Silicon photovoltaic cells in thermophotovoltaic conversion, Rep. ER-AT8. Electric Power Research Institute (Feb. 1977) 7. R.N, Bracewell and R. M. Swanson, Silicon photovoltaic cells in TPV conversion, Rep. ER-633, Electric Power Research Institute (Feb. 1978), 8. RN. Bracewell, K. M. Price and R. M, Swanson, Ther- ‘mophotovoltaic conversion for isolated electric systems. Proc. IEE Electric Energy Conf. Canberra, pp. 52-55 (May 1978). 9. R.M, Swanson, A proposed thermophotovoltaic solar energy ‘conversion system, Proc. IEEE 67, 446 (1979),Tratamiento superficial del aluminio y sus aleaclones Actuulmente el mundo consume nds de siete millones de toneladas por aiio de altminio, y le mayor cantidad de los multiples productos que tor fabricados con este metal reciber un deter rinade tipe de tratamiento superviclal. ‘Aungne el alumninio se recubre:de-anu capa de sido natural con un espesor de gprgxiinsdame: te 10 microncs, que le sirve pea witge gue la oxi. Gaaion avance, esta capa de prdtedsién natural se destruye faeilmente, y aunque seiregenerc. es poco efienz on ambienies werisfve) Al mismo Hempo, esta capa de dyido natural nf es ua bne- na, base para recibir pinturas. Debe udemas tenerse en enenta que ¢] oxide ts tural del aluminio no tiene resisien ja contra, cl gtaque corrosive de varing atredvferas, como las quense penuran en centros indistsiJes o en Jas ginne costeras marinas. Por eatus ravones se han Mido varios procesos para mejorar: kt superti je de partes fabricadas en aluminit y sus aloa- Genes, siendo los siguientes lus this actusimente ulilizados. 4 Pulida o abrilantado; Oxidacion quimica o electyoa f — Pintura 0 esmaltado. ty ier; Sogdn soa necesario obtener: Le Una mejor resistencia a a coorosiént — Una mayor resistencia 4) ¢e! — Mejorar a) agpceto entéticoro & poder rene tante del metal. Para estos fines ac utilizan dis- fintos tratamientos auperficialas, Lobre Jos aue presentamos contiquacién sus ténicns Tonda- mentales. Pulido quimico Con este tratamiento xe buses el:minur los de fectos visiblea on la superficie de ius piezas, sin jedavia Jeger. a la obioncion de une superficie de Sito vido reflectante, Jo que sin pusde conseguir Gnicamente resin veremos max xdtiinte, con e abrillantado electro-quimieo. Tal pulide quimice consiste on. autiergiy las pie~ zag ep un bano de composicion ayieciads, para que Ia accién del mismo elimine las crestas, cién a los valleg presentes en las supeyti teniendo una major igualacién del perfil. Solucioncs muy utilizadas para este proceso son Jas preparudas bajo el nombre registrado de “Alupol” por uns firma suiza, cuya composicién es la siguicnte: do fosforiee can densidad 1,7 ks/litro 58 46 en weso; Acido sulftrieo con densidad 1,84 ke/ Hira: 41,6 % en peso; Acido nitrieo fumante: 46 por cliente an peso; Acide bérico: 0.4% en peso; Nilrato de cobres 0,6 % en peso. Las piezas a tratar son previamente desengs sudan mediante tricloreetileno y Mego sumergi- das cn un baio wenlino. Se prepara el' bade con Ja composicion arriba indicada, manteniéndolo # una temperatura dc 100°C. y dejando en el mismo lus plexes por es pacio de 1 a 4 minutos. Luego non exiraidar y Javacdas primeramente en agua caliente y a cone sinnacién en abundante agva frin. ‘Un producto britinico similar al Alupol, es ol “Phosbrite 159", y exialen varios ofros de carae- leristicar similares con sus varios nombres re gistrados para ¢l pulido guimico del aluminio. n rela jes, obs Abritlantado electroquimico Ion este proceso la eininacién de lax crestas para igualar_¢) perfil superficial ox eonsegmide meiliante la disolucién anédica de dichas crestas. ‘Uno de Jos métodos mas utilizados es e} deno- minado Brytal, consistente en sumergir las pic. yas, previamente desengrasadas y ecuidadosamen- Ye lavadas, cn un hafio a 80°C. formade por una soJucién con un 5% de carhonuto s6dico y un ©) de Tostato trisédico. Introdneidas Jas piezas en e) bao, s¢ produce uy Blaque inicial durante 20 4 30 sogundos gue elimina la pelfcola de éxido natural v # eontinus- ion se aplica una tensidn de trabajo de 24 voltios entre el catodo que es en este cago de acoro inoxi- duble 18/8 y la pieza, que constitnve el anodo. Se ventra por lo tanto una polars: Aeon corriente cae donde 4 a unos 2 A/dm? de superficie dela pieza tratada.do que se disuelve en ¢} |ele|trolito eproximada- mente a la misma velocidfd fon que se forma, de manera que su eApesor Thi Gece, ‘Esta ctapa operativa dure unos 6 minutos, y Jueya las plezas son extriidss y lavadas en agua deatilada. . ‘Al wecarse Jas piezas i: pacde apreciar la de- posicién de una delgada capt de dxido que tiene Sseago valor protector, razén por la cual es nece- sario a veces afoctuar un w7odizado posterior. Con este proceso sin embargo sélo se procura obtener un elevado poder réflectante, como ocu- fre en Jas pantallas parabélicas de los faros, e8 decir on superficies protegitas contra Ja accion de faclores de dengagte, Tanto el pulida quimjco tomo el abrillantado electroquimico tienen vinicajnente Ia finalidad de mejorar el aspecto estétito Ce Jas superficics pero no condueen # la proteecién de las misman; ésta en cambio puede obtencrse riediante dos distintos procesos, es decir la “oxi¢acion quimica” y la Roxidacién anodica” gue: presentamos a continun- cién: El anodo.quede cubleri: una pelfcula de 6xi- Oxidacion quimica Ta proteccién mediante :gxidacion guimica de piezas de aluminio y sis glenciones, # peaar de que e) espesor de Ja cua «ue puede depositarse no snpera Jox 2 micromes, ora importantes 1 sultados, y resulta econdrricamente convenicnte para muchas aplicaciones. ‘Ws antes de todo un ro%es0 imprescindible en el caso de necesitarac tecubrir con pinturas © la- cas las partes, puesto que sin una oxidacién pre- via no huy seguridad du quz estos reeubrimicntos pucdan tener suficienty sjlhesion. Mejora la resistencia contra los atagues corre- nivos, eleva Ja resistengia {1 desgaste y asiaismo ‘el nive) estétigo ¢¢ las superficies, que nen durante més tiempo su brillo meta- man! fico, Uno de jos esemee ulilizados para 1a oxi- ducién guimica de picgas fle aluminio y sus alca- ciones es el siguiente ~~ Desengrasade con ‘yicloroctileno y Ivero abundante lavado primeramente en aga ealierite y lero con agua frie. _ Lae piezas son luexo intraducidas en an ba- fio compuesto por unm sclucién de 10 litros de agun en la que se afiade 600 gramos de carbonate séiico ¥ 150 gramos dp crosnate s6dico. Wl bao debe manteng'se a una temperatura de 90 2 98°C. y las pleads deben permanecer un fempe de 15 minutos, después de Jo cus] son le vadna en agua caliesty ¥ ‘Mego en agua fria, ‘La capa gue sedenesite sobre la superficie con este tratamiento en un cor presto: de éxido de alu- Sento y oxide de crozm: y ofrece un color grisdceo Tuy eatable; crla capa ci natituye una base muy puena para la aplicacion,ulterior de Incas v pine turas, aunque Ofrece no ‘ble resistencia a ln co- i gen i 1 | 1 i | | 6 Oxidacion anédica Este proceso, cominmente Namado anodinng permite depositar capas protectoras de hasta sf14 Inicrones de capesor y cs el que da Ie maxing’ protecci6n contra las corrosiones ¥ el deagaute uy, perficial de las pigzes de aluminie y aus alencion, ‘Lins capa pueden obtenerse on varios color y reaultan ademas cléctricamente aislantes, sien} Bo Utilizado este proceso también pare Ja fabri cacién de condensndores eléetricos, ° El sistema més utilizado consiste en le alguien te — Cuidadoso desengrase y lavado, enmo en ¢. caso anterior para ls oxidacién guimica, —. Utilizacién de un bafio constituido por ung; 4 simple solucién de 4eido sulfirico con una concen. tracién del fcido del 20 % en peso, ¥ una intensi. did de corriente de 1,2 8 1,8 A/dm? de superficie, para wna lensién de entre 10 y 20 voltion. ‘La ternpératura del baflo debe mantenerse on lo posible en los 20°C y le duracién del proceso puede variar entre 80 y 60 minutos, ‘Una elevacién de la temperatura del bafiv favo- rece la produccién de pores mientras que uns tem. peratura inferior a 20°C. produce depésitor de- mmusiado duros que pueden agrietarse ficilmonte. ‘Una intensidad de eorriente superior & la indie cada favorece la furmacién de depésitus pulveru {oa 0 poco consintentes. Torminado e) proceso laa pivzas son Iayadas eujdadosamente en agua fria. En el caso de re. | quorirse unu coloracién del deposita, las piczns Javadas son introducidas en una solucién coloran. te, que puede ser permanganate potasico o ucetato dé cobalt, que dan lugar 2 una coloracién verde ‘© uzul, respectivaments, siendo la selucién en am- ox casos mantenida a una temperatura de 70° Para conseguir depésitos de fuerie csporor, c mo son requeridos para piezas gu achen ofres Glevada, renistencin al desgaste, e: er necerario din- poner de un sistema que pormita mautener le temperatura del bafio a hain temperatura: si 1 espeaor que se necesita ef de 100 micrones, Ie temperatura del bafio debe ser de 0°C. Estas capas' de fuerte espesor ¥ gran dureza son aplicadas # piezas de particular resistencia al Gesgaste con notables resultados. Jia Ultima fase del proceso cs cl denorsinads “gellade”: éste consiste en sumergir lua pleess anodivadas en un befio de agua pura a 100° C. Con exto se obtienc una hidratacién de lw pelicula de @xido depositado, con al efecto de aumentar Jas dimensiones de las moléculas cn forma de Jograr Teeubrimiento de Jus porosidades de ia supor- ficie-o Blade. ‘Es muy importante la pureza del agua util zada, no debjendo contener minerales o sales que podrian modificar sensiblemente. Jos resultados del anodizade. ‘La duracién del sellado cr dé 80 sainutes, man- teniendo e] agua alemp a 100°C. En el caso de que las piezas deban resistir a co- rrasiones marinas, se g8iade a) agua caliente del nellado bicromuta polasica » raz6n de 20 a 60 gra mos per litre. Pano o INDUvita, OTMNSTINE Du LET