FS electromagnetic characterisation of a flexible and scalable X-band RAM

Anibal Aguirre; Cristian Torres de Pedro; Borja Plaza Gallardo; David Poyatos Martínez; David Escot Bocanegra

FS electromagnetic characterisation of a flexible and scalable X-band RAM

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Author(s): Anibal Aguirre¹ ; Cristian Torres de Pedro² ; Borja Plaza Gallardo³ ; David Poyatos Martínez² ; David Escot Bocanegra²
- Affiliations: 1: Antennas and Propagation Division , Research and Development Institute for Defense (CITEDEF) , San Juan Bautista de La Salle 4397 (B1603ALO), Villa Martelli, Buenos Aires , Argentina ;
  2: National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) , Ctra Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid , Spain ;
  3: Electronic Warfare Area , ISDEFE , c/Beatriz de Bobadilla, 3, 28040 Madrid , Spain
Source: Volume 12, Issue 7, 13 June 2018, p. 1147 – 1152
DOI: 10.1049/iet-map.2017.0482 , Print ISSN 1751-8725, Online ISSN 1751-8733

Received 30/05/2017, Accepted 17/01/2018, Revised 15/12/2017, Published 18/01/2018

Along the years, RADAR absorbing materials (RAM's) have been widely introduced in aeronautic applications and platforms. However, this kind of materials presents three main problems for certain applications when they are intended to be used in real operations. First, they must be scalable from a laboratory sample to actual size, at a reasonable cost. Second, they must be able to work without metal backing for applications in non-metallic vehicles or other objects which surface might not be flat. Indeed, they should also be flexible and surface adaptable. Finally, their absorbing properties against electromagnetic fields should be preferably characterised under real conditions, that is, in free space (FS), in order to design and fabricate an appropriate material for the intended application. In this study, a self-developed, low-cost, bilayer, X-band RAM, composed of a lower layer of polyaniline silicon rubber and a top layer of silicon rubber with graphite was characterised in a bistatic anechoic chamber called BIANCHA, and the results are presented, analysed and compared with software simulation and with the typical single polarisation waveguide measurement method, showing the adequacy of FS measurements for the development of this type of RAM.

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FS electromagnetic characterisation of a flexible and scalable X-band RAM

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