A conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems

Abstract

This invention relates to the fields of radio frequency detection and aircraft skin technology, and discloses a conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem. It includes several planar arrays based on the radio frequency microsystem, assembled according to the curvature requirements of aircraft skin to form irregularly shaped arrays. A conformal skin is attached to the surface of each irregularly shaped array, including an outer electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin. A filling portion is provided on the side of the protective skin that is in contact with the irregularly shaped array, and the filling portion is inserted into the splicing seam between adjacent planar arrays. This invention utilizes the integrated design of the irregularly shaped outer electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin and the irregularly shaped array based on the radio frequency microsystem. While ensuring electrical performance, it achieves conformal design with the aircraft skin, expanding the installation location of radar equipment on aircraft platforms. Furthermore, the structure is simple and compact, lightweight, easy to manufacture, and inexpensive. Moreover, the filling portion ensures the installation stability of the conformal skin and the irregularly shaped array while improving the electromagnetic performance of the combined irregularly shaped array.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the fields of radio frequency detection and aircraft skin technology, specifically to a conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem. Background Technology

[0002] The development of radio frequency microsystems technology has driven the miniaturization and modularization of radio frequency sensors. In order to meet the intelligent skin detection requirements of the distributed whole-aircraft layout of future combat platforms, the development of sensors that can conform to the fuselage surface has become the current research focus and challenge.

[0003] Based on research of publicly available literature and materials, the so-called conformal integration of radio frequency (RF) sensors with the fuselage currently only involves the fusion of the outermost few millimeters of the antenna radiating layer (passive part) of the sensor with the fuselage. T / R components, RF frequency conversion, digital processing, and other parts are not included. However, due to the constraints of chip, material, and integrated circuit development, the RF / digital hybrid circuits in the context of current airborne applications cannot yet achieve the skin and flexibility required. Current advanced thin and light radars are usually assembled on demand by splicing standardized, modular, planar RF microsystem modules with a thickness of tens of millimeters. This can only meet the requirements for skin cover fitting on planar fuselages, such as the side of the nose of stealth fighters, which greatly limits their application range and layout. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems to achieve an integrated irregular structure of conformal skin and planar radar array, and solve a series of problems such as aerodynamic conformal, strength / thermal protection, electromagnetic wave transmission, and mutual coupling suppression between arrays in ultra-thin combined arrays.

[0005] A conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems includes several planar arrays based on radio frequency microsystems. The planar arrays are assembled with each other according to the curvature requirements of the aircraft skin to form an irregular array surface. A conformal skin is attached to the surface of the irregular array surface. The conformal skin includes an outer electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin. A filling part is provided on the side of the protective skin that is attached to the irregular array surface. The filling part is inserted into the splicing seam between adjacent planar arrays.

[0006] Furthermore, the protective skin and filling of the conformal skin are bonded and fixed with electromagnetic adhesive at the contact points with the irregular surface or splice seam.

[0007] Furthermore, the protective skin is made of a single layer or multiple layers of high-frequency microwave dielectric material, which is semi-cured and pressed together with electromagnetic adhesive to conformally fit the aircraft skin.

[0008] Furthermore, the filling part is made of a high-frequency microwave dielectric material.

[0009] Furthermore, the filling part has an inverted serrated structure.

[0010] Furthermore, the protective skin and the bonding surface are smoothed.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0012] 1. The conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems of the present invention can realize the conformal bearing of radio frequency sensors and fuselage skin in a compact space, and solve the problem of high conformal coexistence between physical fuselage skin and electromagnetic sensor skin in airborne environment.

[0013] 2. It has good electromagnetic performance. First, the multi-layer dielectric loading of the array surface provides electromagnetic wave transmission protection. In addition to protection, it also has good wave transmission performance in the microwave band. Through multi-layer dielectric optimization design, better electromagnetic matching is achieved, resulting in lower loss. In addition, the serrated dielectric filling under the cavity splicing seam between the arrays effectively suppresses the mutual coupling effect between the arrays. Compared with the case without serrated dielectric, the antenna sidelobe is improved by about 4 to 5 dB.

[0014] 3. Excellent mechanical and protective properties, with good environmental adaptability, high strength, heat resistance, corrosion resistance and other advantages, realizing the conformal integration of the combined array of multiple ultra-thin radars based on radio frequency microsystems with the aircraft skin.

[0015] 4. Good maintainability: It can adopt a semi-curing pressing process. Multi-layer high-frequency microwave dielectric materials have the advantages of easy cutting, convenient splicing, and simple disassembly and maintenance.

[0016] 5. The conformal skin radar structure with irregular electromagnetic function of the present invention can meet multiple requirements such as safety, protection, skin properties, conductivity, reliability, and concealment, and truly realize the integration of mechanical structure and electromagnetic function. It can be applied to the irregular array radar requirements of various combat platforms such as fighter jets, transport aircraft, and early warning aircraft based on radio frequency microsystems, and has broad practical value and application prospects. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of conformal skin mounting based on the radio frequency microsystem in the embodiment;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the protective skin and filling part in the embodiment;

[0020] Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of the multilayer dielectric material and the semi-cured pressing of the irregular array surface in the embodiment;

[0021] Figure 4 The radiation pattern shown in the embodiment is when the irregular array surface H = 60 mm and L = 15 mm;

[0022] Figure 5 This is the orientation diagram of the conformal skin when the array surface H=60mm and L=15mm is covered in the embodiment;

[0023] Among them, 1. Planar array; 2. Protective skin; 3. Filler; 4. Splicing seam. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of this application. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of this application from the content disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. This application can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of this application. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0026] Example

[0027] See Figures 1-5 A conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems includes several planar arrays 1 based on radio frequency microsystems. The planar arrays 1 are assembled with skins between arrays according to the curvature requirements of aircraft skin to form irregular array surfaces. A conformal skin is attached to the surface of the irregular array surface. The conformal skin includes an outer electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin 2. A filling part 3 is provided on the side of the protective skin 2 that is attached to the irregular array surface. The filling part 3 is inserted into the splicing seam 4 between adjacent planar arrays 1.

[0028] To meet the design requirements of conformal conformation of airborne skin, there must be splicing seams 4 between the planar array 1 with a certain thickness and adjacent planar array 1 in the irregular array, which seriously affects the aerodynamics of the aircraft and the radiation characteristics of the radar antenna. In this embodiment, by attaching a protective skin 2 with wave transmission and protection to the surface of the irregular array, and using a filling part 3 to fill the splicing seam 4 between adjacent planar array 1, an integrated irregular structure of conformal skin and planar radar array is achieved, solving a series of problems such as aerodynamic conformal conformation, strength / thermal protection, electromagnetic wave transmission, and mutual coupling suppression between arrays in ultra-thin combined arrays.

[0029] In this embodiment, the irregular array is composed of standardized, modular, and universal radio frequency microsystems. Each radio frequency microsystem includes a radiation layer, a TR layer, a heat dissipation layer, a radio frequency conversion layer, a digital processing layer, a cover plate layer, and other components.

[0030] like Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the conformal skin structure based on the radio frequency microsystem in this embodiment is given. The conformal skin includes an outer electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin 2, which is mainly manufactured by a semi-curing pressing process using multilayer high-frequency microwave dielectric materials through electromagnetic adhesive. The bonding surface between the protective skin 2 and the irregular array is smoothed to achieve conformal design with the aircraft skin.

[0031] See Figure 3 The protective skin 2 can be covered with two or three layers of high-frequency microwave dielectric material according to the aircraft's shape and irregular array installation structure. The multi-layer dielectric covering of the protective skin 2 also ensures the maintainability and ease of installation of the radio frequency microsystem-based array, and reduces the size and weight of the radar structure. After the irregular array is installed and fixed, a semi-curing pressing process is used to bond the conformal protective skin 2 and the filling part 3 to the irregular array or splice seam 4 with electromagnetic adhesive, ensuring that the conformal skin and the irregular array are tightly bonded. For large fixed-wing aircraft platforms with low flight speeds, the irregular external electromagnetic wave-transparent protective skin 2 can effectively meet the design constraints of the aircraft's external skin. For aircraft platforms with flight speeds of Mach 2 to 3, when the aircraft is flying in the dense atmosphere, the temperature of the aircraft skin rises to a maximum of about 300°C due to the heating effect of the high-temperature compressed gas between the shock wave and the fuselage, as well as the strong friction between the fuselage surface and the air. The irregularly shaped external electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin 2, after reasonable design, can meet the requirements for long-term use under 300°C conditions, effectively ensuring the shape preservation and stability of the conformal skin.

[0032] The filling part 3 is a protrusion that can be inserted into the splicing seam 4 between adjacent planar arrays 1. The cross-sectional shape can be cylindrical or semi-cylindrical, triangular, rectangular, trapezoidal, etc. In this embodiment, the filling part 3 is selected as an inverted sawtooth structure that can completely fill the splicing seam 4 between adjacent planar arrays 1. The inverted sawtooth structure is spliced ​​by coating electromagnetic adhesive between multiple layers of high-frequency microwave dielectric materials according to the thickness H of the irregular array module and the length L of the splicing seam 4, and then semi-curing and bonding them. The irregular array shape structure is cut to prepare one or more sets of inverted sawtooth structures.

[0033] Both the protective skin 2 and the filling part 3 are made of the same high-frequency microwave dielectric material as the surface of the antenna radiating layer. This material features low dielectric constant, high elastic modulus, and low loss tangent, with a single-layer thickness typically several millimeters. In this embodiment, the single-layer high-frequency microwave dielectric material is uniformly processed into a 4mm thick, double-sided, non-metallic pure dielectric material. This dielectric material exhibits good environmental adaptability, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, ease of multi-layer splicing, ease of cutting, and ease of bending, ensuring both electromagnetic performance requirements and mechanical properties.

[0034] like Figure 4 The radiation pattern for the irregular array surface with H=60mm and L=15mm without protective skin 2. Figure 5 The radiation pattern is shown when the irregular array surface H=60mm and L=15mm is covered with conformal skin. The comparison of the two figures shows that the addition of conformal skin can effectively suppress the mutual coupling effect between arrays and improve the antenna sidelobes by about 4 to 5 dB.

[0035] The conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems in this invention integrates an irregularly shaped external electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin 2 with an irregularly shaped array surface based on radio frequency microsystems, achieving conformal design with aircraft skin while ensuring electrical performance. The protective skin 2 and the filling part 3 are manufactured using an electromagnetic adhesive semi-cured sheet pressing process to synthesize multi-layer dielectric materials. These materials can be cut and spliced ​​according to the array structure. The external electromagnetic wave-transmitting protective skin 2 is connected to the irregularly shaped array surface through the electromagnetic adhesive semi-cured sheet pressing process, featuring easy disassembly and assembly, and convenient maintenance. The dielectric capping effectively improves the directivity coefficient of the conformal skin.

[0036] In summary, the conformal skin radar structure based on radio frequency microsystems can realize conformal radar structure design on various aircraft platforms, expanding the installation position of radar equipment on aircraft platforms. It is also simple and compact in structure, lightweight, easy to process, and inexpensive. Furthermore, by setting the filling part 3, it can improve the electromagnetic performance of the irregular combination array while ensuring the installation stability of the conformal skin and irregular array, which has high engineering application value.

[0037] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem, characterized in that, It includes several planar arrays based on radio frequency microsystems. The planar arrays are assembled with skinning between arrays to form irregular array surfaces according to the curvature requirements of aircraft skin. A conformal skin is attached to the surface of the irregular array surface. The conformal skin includes an external electromagnetic wave transmission protective skin. A filling part is provided on the side of the protective skin that is attached to the irregular array surface. The filling part is inserted into the splicing seam between adjacent planar arrays. The protective skin is made of a single layer or multiple layers of high-frequency microwave dielectric material, which are semi-cured and pressed together with electromagnetic adhesive to conformally fit the aircraft skin; the filling part is made of high-frequency microwave dielectric material.

2. The conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem according to claim 1, characterized in that, The protective skin and filling part of the conformal skin are bonded and fixed with electromagnetic adhesive at the contact points with the irregular surface or splice seam.

3. The conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filling part has a serrated structure.

4. The conformal skin radar structure based on a radio frequency microsystem according to claim 1, characterized in that, The protective skin and the bonding surface are smoothed.

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