Temperature-Dependent Electromagnetic Design of Inhomogeneous Planar Layer Variable Thickness Radome for Power Transmission Enhancement

A novel inhomogeneous planar layer variable thickness radome (VTR) is presented in this letter. To improve the performance of the radome, the effect of thermal coefficient of expansion on radome wall thickness is incorporated in the design stage. The proposed radome exhibits superior power transmission compared to the conventional monolithic constant thickness radome and the monolithic VTR. A Geometrical optics based 3-D ray tracing with aperture integration technique is used for the performance prediction of the radome. The designed radome exhibits an insertion loss as low as 0.006 dB and a maximum boresight error of 2.4 mrad. A time lapse study on the radome performance due to varying temperature distribution as the radome mounted vehicle attains hypersonic velocity is also presented. Superior performance at hypersonic environment makes this radome an attractive choice for airborne applications.