Analysis on working status of support device with 3-point used in high precision system

The support device with 3-point are widely used in many kinds of support systems. However, some problems will emerge when the device is used in high precision system. For example, in the self-adaptive optical system, the different deformation of each support point will cause the dissimilar slope of the supported part of the system, will cause the position error of segment mirror. This paper, using elastic mechanics theory to calculate the elastic deformation, calculates the elasticity deformation of steel balls in the device; based on the principle of optical auto-collimation, tests the related deformations of the three support points under different normal loads; according to the calculation and the experimentation, compares and analyzes the results of calculation and experimentation, sums up the relationship between deformation and support sphere diameter and load value; lastly, proposes the principia to determine the diameter of the balls in high precision system, and provides reformative scheme to design a better support devices with 3-point. The results of this paper have been used in the design and development of self-adaptive optical system.