Structural design and development of multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna

Abstract

The load-bearing antenna approach for state-of-the-art aero-vehicle structure has been made for military aircraft in recent studies. This study presents the structural design and development of multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna which has been developed as a simplified structured load-bearing antenna panel compared with recent studies for aircraft. A multifunctional concept of aircraft structure combines structural and electrical functions to single structural component. The structural function of multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna is load-bearing member of aircraft, and its electrical function is antenna for communication and navigation of aircraft. The radar cross section and drag reduction could be achieved by using sandwich structure and composite material. Through sequential design and development process, multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna successfully demonstrated the design, fabrication, and structural integrity of a load-bearing multifunction antenna component subjected to flight load conditions. This study concentrated on the computational analysis using finite element to validate the structural design of multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna structure. In addition, structural test results were briefly introduced to compare with the analysis results. The prototype of multiband aero-vehicle smart skin antenna was fabricated and tested for the verification of each analysis within the desirable tolerance.