Patent Application
20050014430
This invention relates to a high strength flexible radome reinforced with polyester-polyarylate fibers which reduce radio frequency transmission losses while at the same time providing high strength.
Air-supported flexible fabric radomes for radar or communications antennas serve as protection from wind, thermal distortions, sunlight, rain, snow, ice, hail, sand, dust and other elements.
For approximately twenty years, the common material used for flexible membrane radomes has been a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiberglass composite fabric. While somewhat successful, existing radomes are susceptible to very significant loss of mechanical strength due to creasing and flexing during the manufacturing process and transportation, aging damage due to environmental conditions, as well as stress ruptures or fabric tears when exposed to high loads. These limitations are due in significant part to the material properties of the fiberglass reinforcement used in the fabric construction. Fiberglass as the fiber reinforcement is subject to loss of mechanical strength from fiber-to-fiber abrasion, creasing, folding, and creep rupture. For high survivability applications, a safety margin is required to account for these potential effects. Heavily constructed composite fabrics with large glass fiber bundles become necessary. A heavier construction, however, increases radio frequency (RF) transmission losses decreases receiving sensitivity, and thus requires an increase in the transmission power or the size of radar and communication antennae, at a great cost. Furthermore, practical limitations in the fabric weaving process limit fabric thickness and thus, structural capability. The net result, when all fabric properties are considered, is that product survivability under extreme environmental conditions is not assured. Consequently, compromises between RF performance, structural integrity, and survivability are required.
Using known materials and methods, studies have been performed to investigate increasing the fiber weave density and significant progress has been made. However, poor damage tolerance as experienced in crease fold, flex fold, hydrostatic drum burst tests, and creep rupture failure tensile tests, has demonstrated the need for higher strength damage tolerant reinforcements with suitable radio frequency (RF) transmission characteristics. Significant structural analysis using wind tunnel measurement data and non-linear finite element modeling supports the need for higher strength and strength retention in the radome material. In summary, prior art flexible membrane radomes with high strengths would result in unacceptable radio frequency (RF) losses while the radomes with acceptable RF losses are not generally strong enough in many environments.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a higher strength flexible radome with reduced radio frequency (RF) transmission losses, and increased RF receiving sensitivity.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a high strength flexible radome with demonstrated capability to withstand creep rupture, crease damage, flex damage, abrasion, as well as prolonged periods of high stress exposure.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a high strength flexible radome which does not require significant knock-down factors (allowances in required fabric strength for deterioration in mechanical properties) as compared to known materials, such as fiberglass.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a high strength flexible radome that reduces the power requirements and the cost of the antenna or communications systems protected by the radome.
The invention results from the realization that a high strength flexible radome with low RF loss and high structural integrity and survivability is achieved by utilizing polyester-polyarylate fibers in the radome in place of fiberglass or other currently known or used materials.
This invention features a radome including flexible composite fabric material having polyester-polyarylate fibers in a flexible resin matrix material. The polyester-polyarylate fibers may be woven or knitted, and the flexible resin matrix may be a polyurethane resin. The radome may further include an outer skin or hydrophobic exterior covering bonded to the flexible composite fabric material, and the skin may be comprised of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) or perfluoroalkoxy resin (PFA). The polyester-polyarylate fibers may have a length of several hundred feet. The polyester-polyarylate fibers may form yarns, and the yarns may be woven or knitted. There may be one or more plies of flexible composite fabric material.
This invention further features a radome including a flexible composite material having polyester-polyarylate fibers woven in a flexible resin matrix material, and a radome including a flexible composite material having polyester-polyarylate fibers knitted in a flexible resin matrix material.
This invention further features a method of producing a radome, the method comprising combining polyester-polyarylate fibers with a flexible resin matrix material to form a flexible composite fabric material. The polyester-polyarylate fibers may be woven or knitted. The flexible resin matrix may be a polyurethane resin. The method may further include bonding a skin to the flexible composite fabric material. The skin may be comprised of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), or perfluoroalkoxy resin (PFA). The skin may be bonded to the flexible composite fabric material by chemical etching, by corona treatment combined with adhesive bonding, by lamination, or by melt processing. The method may further include forming plies of flexible composite fabric material.
Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which:
Aside from the preferred embodiment or embodiments disclosed below, this invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Thus, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.
Fabric radomes are commonly used to provide environmental protection for antenna and communications equipment. Typical currently known fabric radomes including air-supported radome 10,
The subject invention solves these shortcomings through the use of a flexible composite fabric radome material having polyester-polyarylate fibers which provide increased strength and decreased RF transmission loss. A polyester-polyarylate radome in accordance with this invention provides adequate strength and may incorporate a hydrophobic exterior covering with a low dielectric constant, producing a reduction in RF loss as compared to known materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiberglass. Polyester-polyarylate fibers in place of known materials also allow for a reduction of total fabric thickness and provides low moisture absorption, further contributing to a reduction in RF loss.
For minimum RF losses, it is advantageous for the radome membrane fabric material to have a low dielectric constant and loss tangent, and to be of minimum thickness. In RF transmission measurement testing, a polyester-polyarylate fiber reinforced fabric composite demonstrated excellent electrical properties including a low dielectric constant and low loss tangent. Additionally, the polyester-polyarylate fiber reinforced composite has characteristics of low water absorption which further minimizes RF transmission loss in long term humid environments.
The fiber strength for polyester-polyarylate fibers is 412 Msi as compared to 500 Msi for glass. Material knock down factors (factors for the reduction in properties due to a specific event, exposure, or characteristic) to be considered include: factors for aging; crease and fold damage; bi-axial stress state; load duration; tear resistance; environmental exposure; internal fiber abrasion; creep rupture tolerance; fiber corrosion; and, depending on the specific fiber, other possibilities. Polyester-polyarylate fibers have superior performance as compared to glass for almost all above mentioned factors coupled with a polyurethane resin system and exterior hydrophobic covering. The graph of
Hydrostatic drum burst tests further demonstrated the structural advantages to polyester-polyarylate as compared to fiberglass. One polyester-polyarylate sample was 0.033 inches thick compared to 0.053 inches thick for a fiberglass composite. In undamaged samples, the composite fabric of this invention measured 90% stronger than the glass composite. After damage by folding, the glass composite demonstrated a 42% strength retention (58% loss in strength) as compared to no strength loss for the polyester-polyarylate composite. A radome designed with polyester-polyarylate fibers in accordance with this invention has a statistically calculated reliability of 0.999 for a twenty year service life (roughly equating to a safety factor >5) including knock-downs for: wind load variations; environmental degradation (UV, moisture, temperature, load cycles); variable and sustained loading effects; fabric damage and crease fold damage; multi-axis loading conditions; and material property variations.
The radome and method of producing the radome of the subject invention thus includes polyester-polyarylate fibers 32,
Polyester-polyarylate fibers 32 such as Vectran® fiber, made by Celanese Acetate LLP, may be used. In one example, fibers 32 have a length of several hundred feet and are from 200 to 5000 denier. Polyester-polyarylate fibers 32 may form yams that may be woven or knitted into fabric 34 with varying fiber thread counts, as is known in the art. It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that the fibers may be combined to form yam, and that reference to fibers or fiber orientation and the like herein refer equally to yams comprised of fibers.
The subject invention thus results in a high strength flexible radome with reduced radio frequency (RF) transmission losses and increased RF receiving sensitivity. The radome fabric of this invention has the capability to withstand creep rupture, crease damage, flex damage, abrasion, as well as prolonged periods of high stress exposure. The flexible radome material does not have significant knock-down factors as compared to known materials such as fiberglass, and it reduces the power requirements or the antenna's size, as well as the cost of the antenna or communications systems protected by the radome. Low RF loss coupled with high structural integrity and survivability are achieved by utilizing polyester-polyarylate fibers in the radome fabric in place of fiberglass or other materials.
Although specific features of the invention are shown in some drawings and not in others, however, this is for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the invention. The words “including”, “comprising”, “having”, and “with” as used herein are to be interpreted broadly and comprehensively and are not limited to any physical interconnection. Moreover, any embodiments disclosed in the subject application are not to be taken as the only possible embodiments. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims:
This application is related to the U.S. Patent Application entitled RIGID RADOME WITH POLYESTER-POLYARYLATE FIBERS AND A METHOD OF MAKING SAME, filed on even date herewith and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
