Efficient co-design of composite smart structures (antennas and mechanical structures) using a novel hybrid optimization technique

The present work aims to integrate the antenna with the mechanical structure, therefore co-design electrically and structurally effective antenna structures, named composite smart structures (CSS). The design is focused electrically toward high gain and wide bandwidth, and mechanically toward high structural strength and low density (low-weight). For the antenna function, microstrip antennas are commonly used because they are conformable to planar and nonplanar surfaces, while sandwich structures composed of composite faces and honeycomb core are used as the basic supporting mechanical structure due to their high strength and low density. The integration procedure improves the gain of the antenna without affecting the bandwidth. The electrical and mechanical analyses are incorporated into the design of experiments (DOE) and response surface method (RSM) statistical optimization techniques, which give a thorough understanding of the system and, most importantly, give information such as how the electrical and mechanical performances are affected by each other, or how they interact. Previous work has demonstrated the successful use of hybrid statistical techniques in microwave system electromagnetic analysis and optimization, but this is the first reported work on incorporating the mechanical performance. The system is optimized with respect to all these factors simultaneously, also giving the designer the flexibility to choose the goals and the weights of each of the optimized outputs.