The Use of Fabric Composite Frequency Selective Surface in Sandwich Structures for Low-Observable Radomes

In this work, the hybrid fabrics of carbon and quartz fibers as filters were adopted in PMI core sandwich structures for low-observable radomes. The advantages of fabric composite frequency selective surfaces (FCFSSs) are easily fabricated by braiding and shaped into curved surfaces. This paper mainly studied the electromagnetic (EM) transmission characteristics of the low-observable radome wall with composite FSS by 3-dimensional electromagnetic analysis software. First of all, the accuracy of the simulation model composed of up and down composite face sheets, a layer of composite FSS and PMI core was validated by comparing with experimental results. Then, the studies on electromagnetic transmission characteristics of the sandwich structure with composite FSS and the sensitivity analysis about the thickness and permittivity of face sheets and PMI core were carried out. The results show that the sandwich structure with single layer composite FSS can realize the function of frequency selection, limit the reflection at the resonance frequency and decrease the sensitivity of EM transmission loss about the thickness of sandwich structures.