Mark Mori was born on the Big Island of Hawaii and moved to Oahu when he was eight. He is pursuing a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Mark’s interest in CAD and astronomy has directed him to lead the suspension subsystem within his university’s Team Robotic Space Exploration. His team has designed and manufactured a Mars rover ready to compete in the University Rover Challenge. Upon graduating, Mark hopes to stay on the islands and find engineering-related work. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach and watching anime.
Home Island: O’ahu
High School:
Institution when accepted: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Project Site: Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope : CFHT, Waimea, Big Island HI
Mentor: Greg Barrick
Project Title: Developing a Finite Element Model of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope’s Primary Mirror Support System for Optical Analysis
Project Abstract:
The optical performance of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope relies heavily on maintaining the surface shape of the primary mirror, with displacements beyond 0.6 microns causing image distortion. The mirror is supported in the axial direction by 24 pneumatic pads arranged in two concentric rings on its bottom face. In the radial direction, 24 levers bonded to its side push and pull on the mirror as it rotates about an axis. Additionally, three weight-bearing fixed points underneath the mirror define its axial position, while three fixed points along the edge define its lateral position. In 2022, one of the pneumatic supports started leaking, negatively impacting image quality and leading to a shutdown for six days for repair. This emergency repair was a major interruption to operations and took away critical observing time. Thus, this project aims to develop a finite element model of the support system to simulate the realistic behavior of the mirror and allow engineers to determine if any changes can be made to the support system to avoid unscheduled repairs. The model is created in SolidWorks using original drawings of the support system, and a static simulation is conducted to replicate the mirror loads and supports as closely as possible. Once the simulation is verified to be accurate by comparing surface displacement results to known values, a data pipeline will be created to export the mirror surface data to Zemax Optical Studio to evaluate the effect of the support system performance on the telescope’s imaging quality. Additionally, other scenarios where mirror support failures may affect telescope performance are being investigated.