Improved Figure Control With Edge Application Of Forces And Moments

A new actuation scheme for mirror figure control, introducing a complete set of membrane shear and bending stresses onto the edges of the mirror, is presented. Thermoelastic response of both segmented and continuous mirrors is analyzed from a closed form solution of the "exact" Love theory of thin spherical shells. There are significant departures from Reissner's theory of shallow shells. Very low residual figure error is possible by edge control alone, lower than with interior point loads. Minimum rms residual error stress profiles are computed. Engineering applications are discussed.