Fabrication and electromagnetic characteristics of electromagnetic wave absorbing sandwich structures

The radar absorbing structures (RAS) having sandwich structures in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) frequencies were designed and fabricated. We added conductive fillers such as carbon black and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) to composite prepregs and polyurethane foams so as to efficiently increase the absorbing capacity of RAS. In order to improve the mechanical stiffness of RAS, we adopted the sandwich structures made of composite face sheets and foam cores. Glass fabric/epoxy composites containing conductive carbon black and carbon fabric/epoxy composites were used for the face sheets. Polyurethane foams containing MWNT were used as the core material. Their permittivity in the X-band was measured using the transmission line technique. The reflection loss characteristics for multi-layered sandwich structures were calculated using the theory of transmission and reflection in a multi-layered medium. Three kinds of specimens were fabricated and their reflection losses in the X-band were measured using the free space technique. Experimental results were in good agreement with simulated ones in 10-dB absorbing bandwidth.