Additively manufactured metastructure design for broadband radar absorption

Abstract

Abstract Background Recent advances in material science and electronics led to the rapid development of communication devices and radar detection techniques resulting in an ever-increasing demand for improved stealth performance of air vehicles during scouts. Absorber design employing metastructure concept has recently become a popular approach to improving radar stealth performance. Metastructure permits the realization of desired absorption characteristics by careful design of geometrical structures and material compositions. In this study, a metastructure designed based on graphite SLS composite for radar absorption has been demonstrated. The unit cell of the proposed structure is simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics to determine the frequency-dependent absorption characteristic of the structure. It is fabricated by using a low-cost selective laser sintering technique of additive manufacturing technology. Results The prototype, while measured, shows effective absorption bandwidth of 1.04 GHz that is in reasonable agreement with the simulated response of 2.08 GHz. The optimized structure exhibits ≤ − 10 dB reflectivity within a broad frequency range extending from 7.60 GHz to 18.00 GHz under normal incidence in both TE and TM polarizations. Furthermore, the absorption performance under different polarizations and incident angles has been investigated. Results indicate that the absorber displays polarization indifference and exhibits a wide-angle of incidence tolerance of up to 45° in TE polarization and 30° in TM polarizations. Conclusion In this paper, the feasibility of using graphite SLS material to design and 3D print a metastructure design for radar absorbing has been established as confirmed by the simulation and the measurement results. The advantages of low cost, ultra-broad operating band, wide-angle of incidence feature, and polarization insensitivity qualifies the proposed absorber for stealth and electromagnetic shielding applications.