Sea-Based X-Band Radar Radome

The air-inflated, fabric radome is 120 ft in diameter with a spherical top half and prolate bottom half. The radome fabric is made of vectran fibers manufactured by ILC Dover. Working with subconsultants Oceanweather Inc. and CPP Inc., SGH completed following:

• Established design wind conditions and performed wind tunnel tests
• Characterized the fabric’s nonlinear material properties based on uniaxial and biaxial testing, and determined effects of handling damages and UV exposure on fabric strength
• Conducted testing to determined creep rupture characteristics of the fabric under sustained loading due to internal pressure combined with wind loading
• Performed nonlinear finite element analysis of the fabric radome, considering nonlinear material properties and large deflections along with the effects of wind-induced rippling resulting from low shear strength of the fabric
• Incorporated our analysis and testing results into a reliability model, accounting for variabilities in wind loading and material resistance (e.g., degradation, handling damages, stress biaxiality, and sustained loading effects)