FEA AND DEVELOPMENT OF C-SANDWICH RADOME FOR UNDERWATER APPLICATIONS

N RoopSingh, Lachiram, ES Suraj, M Gopal

Abstract: C-Sandwich Radome is made of composite material, which is used to protect the antennas from hostile environmental conditions. The development of radomes for underwater application demands high strength structure, resistant to underwater severities and effective joint sealing to withstand high hydrostatic pressure. The shape, strength and construction of radomes have to satisfy electrical, structural and environmental requirements. Composite materials made from E-Glass as fibers, epoxy as resins and syntactic foam as core have become very popular as C-Sandwich radome materials due to its outstanding transparency to microwaves and good mechanical properties. The composite Radomes for underwater application are to be mounted on antenna housing unit to cover antenna systems. Composite Radomes with different type of configuration was developed. The preliminary design was carried out using classical method. FEA (Finite Element Analysis) was performed to investigate the structural requirement and select the best-suited configuration of the radome. The difficulties in manufacturing of radomes have been overcome by adopting different fabrication techniques and systematic process planning. The developed radomes were subjected to established pressure testing to investigate the structural requirement and select the best-suited configuration. This paper mainly deals the FEA, manufacturing aspects and pressure testing of C-Sandwich radome for underwater applications.

Keywords: C-Sandwich, Radome, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Pressure Testing

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0509040