Thermal analysis of a 1.8m solar telescope mechanical structure

According to the thermal environment of a 1.8m open structure solar telescope, a passive thermal control scheme of the mechanical structures is designed to reduce the effects of air turbulence and thermal deformation in this paper. Geometric characteristic of the open structure and the coating properties of mechanical structure are discussed. The stringent thermal requirements for the telescope mechanical structure should be satisfied to avoid the thermal inhomogeneity of ambient air at an intolerable level. A detailed finite element model with environmental conditions is presented to analyze the thermal response of the telescope mechanical structure. Thermal deformation and stress are also studied with the same finite element model. The numerical results demonstrate that the approach of passive cooling is effective and feasible.