Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226

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Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Optimum design method of a nano-composite radar absorbing structure

considering dielectric properties in the X-band frequency range
Ilbeom Choi, Dongyoung Lee, Dai Gil Lee ⇑
School of Mechanical Aerospace & Systems Engineering, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ME3221, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon-shi
305-701, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A radar absorbing structure (RAS) is generally constructed using nano-composites composed of an E-
Available online 6 September 2014 glass/epoxy composite dispersed with carbonaceous conductive particles to improve the electromagnetic
(EM) wave absorbing performance. The EM wave absorptance of the RAS is highly dependent on the
Keywords: dielectric properties of the nano-composite. Therefore, an optimum design method for RAS considering
Nano-composite the dielectric properties and the EM wave absorbing characteristics should be established.
Dielectric property In this study, a theoretical method for the EM wave absorbing characteristics of nano-composite RAS
Radar absorbing structure (RAS)
was developed with respect to the dielectric properties of the nano-composites. Based on the theoretical
Design method for RAS
investigation, an optimum design method for the RAS was developed. Then the RAS was constructed with
the nano-composite composed of an E-glass/epoxy composite and carbon black and its EM wave absorb-
ing performances were measured and compared to those obtained through theoretical calculations and
numerical simulations.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Low-observable radomes were usually composed of either E-

Stealth technology which is essential for national defense tech-
nologies, increases not only the survivability of a weapon system
but also the operational performances in warfare. Stealth technol-
ogy makes a weapon system less visible to detection systems such
as radar antennae of adversaries. The possibility for a weapon sys-
tem to be detected by a radar antenna is determined by the radar
cross section (RCS) of the weapon system. The RCS is the power
reflected or scattered by a radar target, which is the product of
an effective area and a power density whose direction is back
toward the radar [1]. Therefore, the reduction in the RCS of the
weapon system is an important topic in the field of stealth
technology.
In radar stealth technology, there are two major research areas
with respect to the positions on the weapon systems where the
stealth technologies are applied. The first area is the low-observa-
ble radome that is applied to the radar antenna system of the
weapon system. The low-observable radome has an electromag-
netic (EM) wave selectivity function whereby the EM wave of in-
band frequency transmits to the radome structure, while the EM
wave of out-of-band is reflected by the radome structure.
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 42 350 3221; fax: +82 42 350 5221.
E-mail address: dglee@kaist.ac.kr (D.G. Lee).
glass/epoxy or aramid/epoxy composites [2–4]. Recently, hybrid
composites composed of both E-glass/epoxy and aramid/epoxy
composites were adopted in low-observable radomes [5,6].
The second area is the shaping targets, applying radar absorbing
materials (RAMs) and a radar absorbing structure (RAS) to the body
of the weapon system [7–11]. Among these methods, the RAS is
most effective as a result of both its load bearing and EM wave
absorbing capabilities [11]. The RAS usually consists of a nano-
composite composed of an E-glass/epoxy composite dispersed
with carbonaceous conductive particles and a perfect electric con-
ductor (PEC), as shown in Fig. 1. The carbonaceous conductive par-
ticles improve the EM wave absorbing characteristics of the RAS
[11–14]. Since the EM wave absorptance of the RAS is highly
dependent on the dielectric property of the nano-composite [11],
the optimum design method should be established considering
both the dielectric property of the nano-composite and the EM
wave absorbing characteristics of the RAS.
In this study, a theoretical method for determining the EM wave
absorbing characteristics of the nano-composite RAS was developed
in the X-band frequency range (8.2–12.4 GHz). The reflection losses
of the nano-composites were calculated using the commercially
available software package MATLAB R2013a (MathWorks Inc.,
USA) and the variations in the EM wave absorbing characteristics
were investigated with respect to the dielectric properties of the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2014.08.032
0263-8223/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226 219

Incident EM wave

Reflection loss (dB)

Average absorptance
Reflected EM wave PEC

Maximum
absorptance
Nano-composite
Maximum absorbing
frequency
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the nano-composite RAS.

Frequency (GHz)
nano-composites. Based on the theoretical calculation and investi-
Fig. 3. Typical spectral profile of the reflection loss of the nano-composite RAS with
gation, an optimum design method for the RAS was developed, the evaluation factors of the EM wave absorbing performance.
whereby the effective design window and the lower and upper lim-
its were determined. The nano-composites composed of the E-glass/
epoxy composites and nano-size carbon black were fabricated with 2. Theoretical approach on reflection loss of the nano-
respect to the weight percents (wt.%) of the carbon black. The dielec- composite RAS
tric properties of the fabricated nano-composites were measured
using a free space measurement system (HVS Technologies, Penn- 2.1. Reflection loss of the RAS
sylvania, USA). Finally, the RAS was designed and constructed using
the nano-composite according to the optimum design method The EM wave absorbing performance of the nano-composite
developed in this study. The EM wave absorbing characteristics such RAS is determined by the reflection loss of the EM wave. The
as the spectral profiles, maximum absorptance, average absorp- energy loss of the EM wave is a result of the ohmic loss and the
tance, and maximum absorbing frequency of the RAS were mea- destructive interference. The ohmic loss occurs when the incident
sured with the free space measurement method in the X-band EM wave travels in the nano-composite and the destructive inter-
frequency range and compared to those obtained through theoreti- ference occurs when the reflected EM waves on the surface of the
cal calculations and simulations with a 3-dimensional EM wave nano-composite and on the PEC have a quarter wavelength differ-
analysis software, CST Microwave StudioÒ (CST Gmbh, Germany). ence which is obtained by the thickness of the nano-composite

2 0 2 0

1.8 1.8 -5
-5
0 1.6 0 1.6 -10

-10 1.4 -15

1.4
Reflection loss (dB)
Reflection loss (dB)

-20 -20
Loss tangent (tan δ)
Loss tangent (tan δ)

-20
1.2 1.2
-15
-40 -40 -25
1 1
-20 -30
0.8 0.8
-60 -60
-35
0.6 -25 0.6
-40
2 0.4 2
Lo Lo 0.4
ss 1.5 12 ss 1.5 -45
tan -30 tan 12
ge 1 11 0.2 ge 1 11 0.2
nt z) nt z)
(ta 0.5 10 (GH (ta 0.5 10 (GH -50
n δ) 9 ncy 0 n δ) 9 ncy 0
0 re que 9 10 11 12 0 re que 9 10 11 12
F F
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

2 0 2 0

1.8 -5 1.8
-5
0 1.6 0 1.6
-10
-10
1.4 1.4
Reflection loss (dB)

Reflection loss (dB)

-20 -15 -20

Loss tangent (tan δ)
Loss tangent (tan δ)

1.2 1.2 -15

-20
-40 1 -40 1
-25 -20
0.8 0.8
-60 -30 -60
0.6 0.6 -25
-35
2 0.4 2 0.4
Lo Lo
ss 1.5 ss 1.5 -30
tan 12 -40 tan 12
ge 1 11 0.2 ge 1 11 0.2
nt Hz) nt z)
(ta 0.5 10
y (G -45 (ta 0.5 10 (GH -35
nδ 9 nc 0 n δ) 9 ncy 0
) que que
0 Fre 9 10 11 12 0 F re 9 10 11 12
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

(c) (d)
Fig. 2. Typical calculation results of the reflection losses with respect to the dielectric constants and the loss tangents: (a) e0 = 1; (b) e0 = 10; (c) e0 = 50; (d) e0 = 100.
220 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226

Fig. 4. Theoretical calculation results: (a) optimum dielectric property combinations; (b) maximum absorptance; (c) average absorptance; (d) optimum dielectric property
combinations in the reduced range.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 5. Modification of the optimum dielectric property combinations and average absorptances: (a) with the increasing modification factor; (b) with the decreasing
modification factor.
 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226 221

Table 1 8.2–12.4 GHz. The thickness d is calculated according to the design

Upper and lower limits composed of the dielectric constant ranges and the of the nano-composite RAS, whose maximum absorbing frequency
modification factors for the modified optimum loss tangents.
is the center frequency of 10 GHz in the X-band frequency range
Upper limit Lower limit [11,13]. The wavelength of k10 is 30 mm at the frequency of
Dielectric constant Modification Dielectric constant Modification 10 GHz. Using Eqs. (1)–(7), the EM wave absorbing performance
range factor range factor represented by the reflection loss of the nano-composite RAS was
4.50–6.89 0.8 4.50–9.81 0.1 calculated, and the effects of various dielectric properties of the
6.99–10.23 0.7 nano-composites on the EM wave absorbing characteristics of the
10.24–13.71 0.6 9.82–16.84 0.2 RAS were investigated.
13.72–17.69 0.5
17.70–21.80 0.4 16.85–24.36 0.3
21.81–25.64 0.3 2.2. Variation of the reflection losses with respect to the dielectric
25.65–29.93 0.2 24.35–35.00 The optimum properties
29.94–33.39 0.1
33.40–35.00 The optimum The arbitrary dielectric properties of the nano-composites were
calculated by changing the dielectric constants from 1 to 100 with
an increment of 0.01 and by changing the loss tangents from 0 to 2
2 with an increment of 0.01 for the calculation of the reflection loss
Optimum of the nano-composite RAS. The reflection losses in the X-band fre-
quency range were calculated using the commercially available
Loss tangent (tan δ)

Upper limit
1.6
Lower limit software package MATLAB R2013a (MathWorks Inc., USA). Fig. 2
shows the typical calculation results of the 3-dimensional graphs
1.2
using the dielectric constants of 1, 10, 50 and 100. The axes repre-
Design window
sent the frequency, the loss tangent and the reflection loss. The cal-
0.8
culations were performed using the following steps: the dielectric
constant was preliminarily set to a certain value. Then, the reflec-
0.4
tion losses were calculated by changing the loss tangent in the X-
band frequency range. From the results, the optimum combina-
0
4.5 14.5 24.5 34.5 tions of the dielectric constant and the loss tangent, which maxi-
mize the reflection losses of the nano-composite RAS, were
Dielectric constant (ε')
found. This indicates that if the nano-composite has the optimum
Fig. 6. Optimum design window for the nano-composite RAS. dielectric property, the EM wave absorbing performance of the RAS
will be maximized.

[11,13]. The energy loss is defined using the scattering parameter,

3. Optimum design method
Sij by the following equation [15]:

V i  Fig. 3 shows the typical spectral profile of the reflection loss of
Sij ¼ þ  ð1Þ the nano-composite RAS. The evaluation factors for the EM wave
Vj 
Vþ
k
¼0 for k – j absorbing performance of the nano-composite RAS were deter-
In Eq. (1), Sij is found by driving port j with an incident wave of mined as the maximum absorptance and the average absorptance.
voltage V þ  The absorptance was defined by following equation [13]:
j and measuring the reflected wave amplitude V i coming
 
out of port i. The complex scattering parameter S11 is found as the RL
Absorptance ¼ 1  1010  100 ð%Þ ð8Þ
reflection coefficient observed at port 1. Next, the reflection loss RL
is expressed as follows: where RL is the reflection loss. The average absorptance was calcu-
RL ¼ 20 log jS11 j ð2Þ lated using averaging the absorptance values in the X-band fre-
quency range.
where the complex reflection coefficient S11 is determined as fol-
lows [16]: 3.1. The optimum dielectric property and EM wave absorbing
performance
jZ dn tan ðbd dÞ  1
S11 ¼ ð3Þ
jZ dn tan ðbd dÞ þ 1 From the results of the theoretical calculation in Section 2, the
In Eq. (3), Zdn is the normalized wave impedance, bd is the phase optimum dielectric property combinations were obtained, as
constant, and d is the thickness of the nano-composite medium. shown in Fig. 4(a). When the dielectric constant is increased, the
These components are a function of the dielectric property e of optimum loss tangent should decrease for the optimum dielectric
the medium and are expressed as follows: property combinations.
Additionally, the maximum absorptance and the average
e ¼ e0 ð1  j tan dÞ ð4Þ absorptance are shown in Fig. 4(b) and (c). For the absorptance cal-
1 culation, the optimum dielectric property combinations in Fig. 4(a)
Z dn ¼ pffiffiffi ð5Þ were used, and only the dielectric constant was shown as the x-
e
2p pffiffiffi axis of the graph. From the results, the maximum absorptances
bd ¼ e ð6Þ were over 95% for most dielectric constants, while the average
k
k10 absorptances were over 90% for dielectric constants under 35. Also,
d ¼ pffiffiffiffi ð7Þ the dielectric constant of the E-glass/epoxy composite was 4.621
4 e0
without any carbonaceous conductive particles [6].
where e0 is the dielectric constant, tan d is the loss tangent, and k is Therefore, the range of the optimum dielectric constants were
the wavelength of EM wave in the X-band frequency range of reduced from 1–100 to 4.5–35 and also the optimum loss tangents
222 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226

Pre-mixing process Post-mixing process Hand lay up

Epoxy + Epoxy +
Vacuum carbon black carbon black
Epoxy +
carbon black
Stirring bar
E-glass plain
Speed Temp. weave fabric
3-roll mill

Mold
Autoclave Vacuum

Vacuum bag Mold

Curing process Molding

(a)

160
0.6
Temperature (oC)

120

0.4 Pressure (MPa)

80

40 0.2
Temperature
Pressure
0 0
0 1 2 3 4
Time (hrs)
(b)
Fig. 7. Fabrication of the nano-composite and the RAS: (a) total fabrication process; (b) autoclave curing cycle.

were simultaneously reduced according to reduction of the opti- The modified loss tangent tan dm was defined with the modifi-
mum dielectric constants. Fig. 4(d) shows the optimum dielectric cation factor M and the optimum loss tangent tan dop. Then, the
property combinations of the nano-composite in the reduced modified optimum dielectric property em was determined by the
range. following equation:

3.2. Optimum design limits and window em ¼ e0 ð1  j tan dm Þ ¼ e0 ½1  jð1 þ MÞ tan dop  ð10Þ

The modification factors M were divided into two types:

Fig. 4(d) shows the reduced optimum dielectric property com-
increasing types and decreasing types. The increasing types of M
binations, which are not easy to fabricate a nano-composite whose
were from 0.1 to 1.0 with an increment of 0.1, and the decreasing
dielectric properties are the reduced optimum dielectric property
types of M were from 0.1 to 0.9 with a decrement of 0.1.
combinations. Thus, the design limits should be expanded to pro-
Fig. 5(a) shows the modified optimum dielectric property combi-
vide the design flexibility.
nations with the increasing and decreasing of the optimum loss
The design limits were investigated to calculate the average
tangents with respect to the modification factors, respectively.
absorptance with the optimum dielectric constant using a modifi-
Additionally, Fig. 5(b) shows the average absorptance with
cation factor M as follows:
respect to the modified optimum dielectric property combinations
tan dm with the modification factors. The average absorptances decreased
M¼ 1 ð9-aÞ
tan dop in both cases of increasing and decreasing optimum loss tangents.
These results demonstrate that when the dielectric properties were
or
either increased or decreased from the optimum value, the EM
tan dm ¼ ð1 þ MÞtan dop ð9-bÞ wave absorbing performance decreased.
 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226 223

(a) (b)
Fig. 8. Schematic diagram and photographs of the free space measurement system.

12 dielectric constant ranges and the modification factors for the

modified optimum loss tangents are listed in Table 1. Fig. 6 shows
10
Dielectric constant (ε')

3 wt.% 2.5 wt.% the final optimum design window and the upper and lower limits.
8 2 wt.%
4. Fabrication and dielectric property of the nano-composite
6
The nano-composites were fabricated by impregnating a plain
4 1 wt.% 1.5 wt.% weave E-glass fabric with an epoxy resin (YD114F, Kukdo Chemical
0.5 wt.%
Co., Korea) containing nano-size carbon black (KetjenblackÒ EC-
2 600JD, AkzoNobel, Netherlands). The thickness of a plain weave
E-glass fabric was 0.12 mm. The total fabrication process is
0
depicted in Fig. 7(a) and it was performed using the following steps
8.2 9.2 10.2 11.2 12.2
[13].
Frequency (GHz)
In the pre-mixing process, a mixture of the epoxy resin, a hard-
(a) ener and the carbon black was prepared. The flask containing the
mixture was placed on a hot plate (PC-420D, Corning Inc., USA),
1
and the mixture was stirred for five hours at a rotation speed of
500 rpm under vacuum. In the post-mixing process, the mixture
Loss tangent (tan δ)

0.75 was processed again to produce a uniform dispersion of the carbon

black using a 3-roll mill. The uniformly dispersed mixture was
3 wt.% 2 wt.% pasted on the plain weave E-glass fabric using a hand lay-up
0.5 2.5 wt.% method. Next, the impregnated laminates were placed in the
molds for the curing process. Finally, the laminates were cured
by an autoclave vacuum bag degassing method under a cure cycle,
0.25 as shown in Fig. 7(b) [17]. The areal dimension of the specimen for
1.5 wt.% 1 wt.% 0.5 wt.% the measurement was 150  150 mm.
The nano-composites composed of the E-glass/epoxy composite
0
dispersed with the carbon black were fabricated with respect to
8.2 9.2 10.2 11.2 12.2
the weight percents (wt.%) of the carbon black from 0.5 to
Frequency (GHz)
3.0 wt.% with an increment of 0.5 wt.%. The fiber volume fraction
(b) of the nano-composites were controlled to be 57%. The dielectric
property of the nano-composite was measured using the free space
Fig. 9. Dielectric properties of the nano-composite with respect to the wt.% of the measurement system, as shown in Fig. 8 [18]. Fig. 9(a) and (b)
carbon black in the X-band frequency range: (a) dielectric constant; (b) loss
show the measurement results of the dielectric constants and the
tangent.
loss tangents of the nano-composites in the X-band frequency
range. As the weight percent of the carbon black in the epoxy resin
Using the results in Fig. 5(a) and (b), the upper and lower design was increased, the dielectric property of the nano-composite also
limits were determined. The limits were selected using the increased. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of the E-glass/
modified optimum dielectric property combinations that revealed epoxy composite without the carbon black were 4.621 and 0.016,
performances over 90% of the average absorptance. The selected respectively, while the dielectric constant and loss tangent of the
224 I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226

Table 2
Measured dielectric properties of the nano-composites in the X-band frequency range.

Weight percent (%)

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Dielectric constant Average 4.621 5.305 5.226 5.545 6.073 6.950 7.258
10 GHz 4.622 5.309 5.253 5.554 6.103 6.981 7.293
Loss tangent Average 0.016 0.052 0.068 0.096 0.197 0.271 0.406
10 GHz 0.016 0.052 0.072 0.096 0.201 0.271 0.409

for the nano-composite RAS. The average dielectric constant and

1.2 Optimum
loss tangent of the nano-composite were 7.258 and 0.406, respec-
Design window Upper limit
tively. The thickness of the nano-composite from Eq. (7) for the
Loss tangent (tan δ)

Lower limit
Carbon black
RAS was 2.78 mm, and this thickness was used for the calculation,
0.8 simulation and measurement.

3 wt.% 5.1. Theoretical calculation and simulation

0.4
1.5 wt.%
1 wt.% 2 wt.%
0.5 wt.%
0
4.5 5.5 6.5
Dielectric constant (ε')
Fig. 10. Optimum design window of the nano-composite RAS and the positions of
the nano-composite with respect to the wt.% of carbon black.
nano-composite with 3 wt.% carbon black were 7.258 and 0.406,
respectively. The measured dielectric properties of the nano-com-
posite are listed in Table 2.
5. EM wave absorbing characteristics
According to the optimum design window and the measured
dielectric properties of the nano-composite shown in Fig. 6 and
Table 2, the optimum nano-composite composed of the E-glass/
epoxy composite dispersed with carbon black was selected.
Fig. 10 shows the optimum design window and the selected opti-
mum nano-composite. When the carbon black was dispersed at a
concentration of 3 wt.% in the epoxy resin, the dielectric property
of the nano-composite was positioned in the optimum design win-
dow as shown in Fig. 10. Therefore, the 3 wt.% carbon back dis-
persed nano-composite was selected as the construction material
The theoretical calculation and the computational simulation
2.5 wt.%
were performed to investigate the EM wave absorbing characteris-
tics of the nano-composite RAS composed of the E-glass/epoxy
7.5 8.5 9.5 composite dispersed with 3 wt.% carbon black. The reflection loss
of the nano-composite RAS was calculated using Eqs. (2)–(6). Addi-
tionally, a computational simulation of the nano-composite RAS
was conducted using the 3-dimensional EM wave analysis soft-
ware package CST Microwave StudioÒ (CST Gmbh, Germany).
Fig. 11(a) and (b) show the numerical model which used 188,272
hexahedral meshes with transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode
boundary conditions, which is the same boundary condition of
the free space measurement method. The x-axis is aligned with
the magnetic field direction, the y-axis is aligned with the electric
field direction and the added space is placed in the z-direction for
the far field simulation [2]. The calculation and simulation results
are shown in Fig. 12 and in Table 3.
5.2. Free space measurement and evaluation
The actual EM wave absorbing performance of the nano-com-
posite RAS was measured by the free space measurement system.
The nano-composite RAS specimen was constructed using the
same nano-composite fabrication process. As the thickness of a
plain weave E-glass fabric was 0.12 mm, 23 fabrics were used to
fabricate 2.78 mm-thick nano-composite dispersed with 3 wt.% of
the carbon black. The PEC was the aluminum foil with the

Nano-composite
Htangential=0

Port 1 PEC
(Antenna) Etangential=0

y
x
z Added space (far field)
z

(a) (b)
Fig. 11. 3-Dimensional EM wave analysis of the nano-composite RAS: (a) simulation model; (b) boundary conditions.

0 calculated for various dielectric properties of the nano-composites.
-5
Reflection loss (dB)
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
8.2 9.2 10.2
Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 12. Spectral profiles of the reflection loss of the nano-composite RAS results
from the calculation, simulation and measurement.
Table 3
Results of the EM wave absorbing performances of the nano-composite RAS with
respect to the calculation, simulation and measurement.
Method Maximum Average
absorptance (%) absorptance
(%)
Calculation 99.8 96.4
Simulation 99.7 97.3
(% difference) (0.10) (0.93)
Measurement 99.3 96.9
(% difference) (0.50) (0.52)
thickness of 25 lm. Fig. 12 shows the measured spectral profiles of
the nano-composite RAS specimen, where the profile was similar
to those of the calculation and simulation spectral profiles.
Table 3 lists the maximum absorptances, the average absorp-
tances and the maximum absorbing frequencies. The measured
maximum absorptance was 99.3%, while the maximum absorp-
tances of the calculation and simulation results were 99.8% and
99.7%, respectively. The measured average absorptance was
96.9% while the average absorptances of the calculation and simu-
lation results were 96.4% and 97.3%, respectively. The maximum
absorbing frequencies were 10.2, 10.3 and 10.2 GHz for the mea-
surement, calculation and simulation, respectively.
The differences in the results between the calculation and the
simulation were 0.10%, 0.93%, and 0.97% for the maximum absorp-
tance, the average absorptance and maximum frequency, respec-
tively, and those between the calculation and the measurement
were 0.50%, 0.52%, and 0.97%, respectively. The maximum differ-
ence was only 0.97% using the maximum absorptance frequency
between the results of the calculation, the simulation, and the
measurement. Therefore, the theoretical calculation methods for
the EM wave absorbing performances of the nano-composite RAS
were fully verified. Finally, the optimum design method developed
in this study for the nano-composite RAS might be used for design-
ing a RAS with high EM wave absorbing performances with over
95% of the maximum absorptance, over 90% of the average absorp-
tance, and a maximum absorbing frequency near 10 GHz.
6. Conclusions
The variations in the EM wave absorbing characteristics of the
nano-composite RAS were investigated theoretically with respect
to the dielectric properties of the nano-composites in the X-band
frequency range. The reflection losses, which represent the EM
wave absorbing performances of the nano-composite RAS, were
I. Choi et al. / Composite Structures 119 (2015) 218–226 225
Calculation
From the calculation results, the optimum dielectric property com-
Simulation
Measurement
binations exhibiting the highest EM wave absorbing performances
for the maximum and average absorptances were obtained.
An optimum design method for the nano-composite RAS using
the optimum dielectric property combinations was developed. The
optimum design window was determined by modifying of the
optimum dielectric property combinations by expanding the upper
and lower design limits. The extensions of the limits provided the
design flexibility of the actual nano-composite RAS.
The nano-composites were fabricated by impregnating the
plain weave E-glass fabric with an epoxy resin that contained var-
11.2 12.2 ious weight percentages of nano-size carbon black from 0 to 3 wt.%
with an increment of 0.5%. The dielectric properties of the fabri-
cated nano-composites were measured using the free space mea-
surement method. The dielectric property of the nano-composite
dispersed with 3 wt.% carbon black was positioned in the optimum
design window with a dielectric constant of 7.258 and with a loss
tangent of 0.406. Therefore, the 3 wt.% carbon back dispersed
nano-composite was selected, and a nano-composite RAS with a
thickness of 2.78 mm was designed using the optimum design
method developed in this study.
Maximum absorbing The measured EM wave absorbing characteristics such as the
frequency (GHz)
spectral profiles, maximum absorptance, average absorptance,
and the maximum absorbing frequency of the nano-composite
10.3 RAS were very close to those obtained by the calculation and sim-
10.2
(0.97)
ulation with less than 1% discrepancy in the X-band frequency
10.2 range. From the results, the nano-composite RAS exhibited high
(0.97) EM wave absorbing performances, with over 95% of the maximum
absorptance, over 90% of the average absorptance, and a maximum
absorbing frequency near 10 GHz.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grant No. EEWS-2014-
N01140042 from the EEWS Research Project of the office of the
KAIST EEWS Initiative (EEWS: Energy, Environment, Water, and
Sustainability) and the KI Projects. Their support is greatly
appreciated.
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