Abstract: To achieve the monitoring of the array surface deformation of the array antenna structure during its service, aiming at the contradictory issue between the algorithm accuracy and the number of sensors in the traditional inverse finite element method, the deformation reconstruction method of the array antenna based on the improved inverse finite element method was investigated. Firstly, for the antenna array surface structure, the matrix transformation relationship between the strain and displacement of the array antenna structure based on the four-node plate element was constructed, and the reconstruction performance of the algorithm was tested by algorithm simulation. Secondly, an algorithm optimization model based on the improved inverse finite element method with the multi-objective genetic algorithm was proposed, and the dual-objective optimization solution for the algorithm accuracy and the number of sensors was obtained through algorithm simulation. Finally, the reconstruction effect of the improved inverse finite element method in the actual environment was verified through the aluminum plate deformation experiment. The results indicated that the improved inverse finite element method could perform dual-objective optimization on the reconstruction accuracy and the number of sensors, and could ensure the algorithm reconstruction accuracy while avoiding sensor redundancy.