In this study, a multi-functional sandwich structure is proposed with mechanical support, electromagnetic radiation and absorption by radome-integrated design of metamaterial antenna array. The pyramid metamaterial absorber (PMA) is used as the radiator of the antenna element, with a fibre-reinforced resin composite radome attached on the top. To enhance mechanical strength of the radome and meanwhile to reduce radar cross-section (RCS) of the antenna, the PMA is used as the lattice core of sandwich structure. By engineering the dispersion, the PMA structure is used as low-loss antenna in-band radiator and broadband out-of-band absorber simultaneously. For instance, an antenna working in the C-band and with RCS reduction in the X-band was designed, manufactured and measured. Radiation performances of the antenna are verified. A 5 × 5 antenna array and a 2 × 2 array were also fabricated to evaluate the absorption and mechanical properties, respectively. Measured results of the 5 × 5 array present that the RCS reduction is more than 20 dB in the X-band. Quasi-static out-of-plane compression tests on the 2 × 2 antenna array verify the good mechanical performances. The sandwich structure can achieve high mechanical strength, good radiation performance and low RCS, which provides a new paradigm of antenna–radome-integrated design for practical applications.

中文翻译：

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具有超材料天线晶格芯的多功能三明治结构：保护，辐射和吸收

在这项研究中，通过超材料天线阵列的天线罩集成设计，提出了一种具有机械支撑，电磁辐射和吸收的多功能夹层结构。金字塔形超材料吸收器（PMA）用作天线元件的辐射体，顶部装有纤维增强树脂复合材料天线罩。为了增强天线罩的机械强度，同时减小天线的雷达截面（RCS），PMA被用作三明治结构的晶格芯。通过设计色散，PMA结构可同时用作低损耗天线带内辐射器和宽带带外吸收器。例如，设计，制造和测量了工作在C波段且RCS减小在X波段的天线。验证天线的辐射性能。还制作了一个5×5天线阵列和一个2×2阵列来分别评估吸收和机械性能。5×5阵列的测量结果表明，在X波段RCS减小超过20 dB。在2×2天线阵列上的准静态平面外压缩测试证明了良好的机械性能。三明治结构可以实现较高的机械强度，良好的辐射性能和较低的RCS，从而为实际应用提供了一种新的天线-天线罩集成设计范例。