Authors: Reuven Shavit
Source: FERMAT, Volume 6, Article 3, Nov._Dec., 2014
Abstract: Large radar antennas are generally covered with radomes to protect them from extreme weather conditions and to enable their continuous precision operation without sacrificing their performance. The radomes are assembled from many panels connected together with metallic or dielectric beams because of their large size. The panels are made of thin membranes or type A sandwiches which are optimized for minimum transmission loss over the operational frequency band of the radome. The beams introduce scattering effects that degrade the overall electromagnetic performance of the antenna enclosed in the radome. This paper addresses the problem of the systematical design of the geometry of the beams for minimum scattering and presents the effect of the radome on the radiation pattern of an antenna which is enclosed within.
Index Terms: metal space-frame radome, dielectric space frame radome, tuned sandwich radome, scattering.
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Design of Large Ground-Based SpaceFrame Radomes