Finite Element Analysis of an Aerial Camera Optics System Support-Gimbal

The support-gimbal for supporting optics system,image sensor and reflector-gimbal is a key part of aerial camera.Its stiffness and dynamic characteristics influence the image quality obviously,so the theory of finite element analysis is applied to research dynamic characteristics of camera optics system support-gimbal in the design.A three-dimensional entity model of support-gimbal is built on the platform of SOLIDWORKS and is simplified reasonably.The paper builds the finite element model of the support-gimbal by using COSMOS software,and works out the 8 extended natural frequency and model shape.By analyzing the results,some weak components are found and some suggestions for the improvement are proposed,then the support-gimbal is analyzed again.The analysis result shows that with the optimized design,the support-gimbal gains lighter weight and higher dynamic characteristics.The FEM provides a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of support-gimbal,and increases design efficiency.