Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Synthesis of radar absorption material for stealth application

P. Balaji Ananth ⇑, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna, M.S. Nisha
School of Aeronautical Sciences, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Sciences, Chennai, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A lot of airstrikes are being reported and other operations are done by the defense sector using modern
Received 1 April 2021 aircraft that are not detected by radar in which this technology is named as stealth technology. Radar
Received in revised form 8 June 2021 Absorbing Materials (RAM) is a type of stealth application process in aircraft that are composites that
Accepted 11 June 2021
absorbs electromagnetic radiation from the source radar. In this work, the radar absorption material
Available online xxxx
properties were analyzed by using High-Frequency Selective Surface (HFSS) software in ANSYS electron-
ics desktop, and two different materials at different thickness 1 mm, 1.5 mm, 2mm, 2.5 mm&3mm are
Keywords:
analyzed for the comparison of the input properties such as Permittivity, Permeability, Reflection loss,
Stealth application
Dielectric property
tan loss and bulk conductivity for impedance matching and reflection loss to analyze their absorbing
Radar absorption material properties. From which the efficient material is found out from the analysis for stealth application.
Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Graphene nano platelets (GNP) Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Impedance matching ence on Futuristic Research in Engineering Smart Materials.

1. Introduction Throughout the years the 1960 s and 1970 s, the development
of true stealth aircraft continued, primarily in the US, and several
Stealth is a technology where the aircraft can be built that is stealth prototypes were flown in the early 1970 s. In the mid-
invisible to the radar and to perform required operations in which 1960 s, the U.S. built a high–altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the
radar absorption materials are a type of stealth application process. Lockheed SR–71 Blackbird, that was extremely RADAR–stealthy.
Stealth technology evolved from the RADAR which is used as an The SR-71 can fly approximately 1,00,000 ft (30,480 m), was able
early warning system against the fleet of bombers. The usage of to penetrate Soviet airspace without being tracked down by their
stealth evolved to mobile military systems which are aircraft or Radar [1].
submarines to reduce the detection by enemy radars. Mostly radar Father of Stealth technology- Pyotr Yakovlevich Ufimtsev as in
detects the planes when they fly into its airspace, signal reflects or the 1960 s developed equations for predicting the reflection of
bounces back to the radar. electromagnetic waves from simple two-dimensional and three-
In 1912, German designers produced transparent monoplane dimensional objects [2].
and painted them with light colors to further reduce visibility. In the time of the cold war, on July 1, 1960 US flew a spy plane
Due to the application of light colors on the plane, it was invisible called RB-47H spy over Soviet Air Defense. While performing signal
from the ground when flow at 900 ft (274 m) or higher, and slightly intelligence in the Barents Sea near the Kola Peninsula, Soviet Air
visible at lower altitudes. Stealth technology development was Defense forces found that there is an unknown plane flying in their
begun before World War 1(1914–1918). Visibility is the sole con- airspace on the radar and they sent MIG-19. The RB-47H was shot
cern at the time because RADAR wasn‘t invented. In the 1930 s down by MIG-19 with an air-to-air missile in the Barents Sea. If RB-
Soviet aircraft designers attempted to design transparent aircraft. 47 have more stealth, soviet air forces might not be able to detect
In the year 1939 RADAR was invented. In 1945 US developed a the spy plane over their radar US can get the information they
RADAR–absorbent paint containing iron. It was capable of making wanted and the crew might not be attacked and lost their lives.
an aircraft less RADAR–reflective and known as MX–410 but it During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, on 27 March 1999, F-
could make an aircraft unwieldy to fly. 117A Nighthawk stealth aircraft of the United States Air Force
was shot down by a Yugoslav army unit by firing an S-125 Neva/
Pechora surface-to-air missile. They detected the F-117A at a range
⇑ Corresponding author. of about 23 km operating their equipment for no more than 17 s to
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Balaji Ananth).
avoid being locked on to by NATO anti-air suppression. Two

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.06.196
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Futuristic Research in Engineering Smart Materials.

Please cite this article as: P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al., Synthesis of radar absorption material for stealth application, Materials Today:
Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.06.196
P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

missiles were launched by the Army of Yugoslavia on F-117A, the aircraft can be treated so they absorb radar energy as well.
first missile was missed but the second missile which was deto- There is a certain shape for the aircraft which makes them aero-
nated near the aircraft created a shock wave and that made the air- dynamically stable but it also creates a very efficient radar
craft tumbled out of control. Aircraft F- 117A was descended reflector. When there is such shape no matter where ever the
towards the ground and caused an explosion [3]. If this has been signals hit it will be reflected to the radar by which the aircraft
taken as an example in both situations, if stealth is up to the is detected [5].
desired aspect, both planes will be able to gather the information
that they required. From here the development of stealth technol- On the other hand, stealth aircraft which has flat surfaces and
ogy has been initiated in different aspects such as in aircrafts, sub- sharp edges don’t act as a reflector as it scatters the incoming sig-
marines, tanks and warships. nals in different directions.
Permeability is the quality or state of being permeable—able to
be penetrated or passed through, especially by a liquid or gas. The 3. Active stealth technology is also known as plasma stealth tech-
verb permeate means to penetrate, pass through, and often nology in scientific terms. Russians developed this technology.
become widespread throughout something. Permittivity, constant This is a crucial milestone in stealth technology. In plasma
of proportionality that relates the electric field in a material to stealth, a stream of plasma is injected in front of the aircraft
the electric displacement in that material. It characterizes the ten- which will cover the entire aircraft that will absorb the incom-
dency of the atomic charge in an insulating material to distort in ing electromagnetic energy of radar waves which makes aircraft
the presence of an electric field. The permittivity measures the detection in radar is a bit impossible [6].
obstruction produces by the material in the formation of the elec-
tric field, whereas permeability is the ability of the material to The unique shape of the aircraft which is a B2 bomber made by
allow magnetic lines to conduct through it. RGO - high electrical the USA turned it into stealth. An anti-reflective paint is painted to
conductivity, Low magnetic property. GNP- high electrical conduc- B-2 to reduce optical visibility during daylight flights. The under-
tivity, diamagnetic in nature. sides are dark because it flies at high altitudes (50,000 ft
Stealth design requires the integration of many techniques and (15,000 m)), and at that altitude, a dark grey painting blends well
materials. In stealth technology, there are three different types of into the sky. The B-2 has a Radar cross-section (RCS) of about
processes used as Composite materials, Shape of the aircraft and 0.1 m2 (1.1 sq. ft.). To deflect the radar beams the B-2 is com-
Plasma technique posed of many curved and rounded surfaces across its airframe.
Radar-absorbent materials (RAM) absorb and neutralize radar
1. In the first technique which is of composite materials, Fig. 1 b beams to achieve an additional reduction in their radar signature.
there are different materials mixed with the composition of A carbon-graphite composite material that which used in B-2 is
structure alloys or elements Some radar absorption paints are stronger than steel, lighter than aluminium, and absorbs a signifi-
used to absorb the different incoming signals by which the sig- cant amount of radar energy [7].
nal is not reflected through which radar is unable to detect. The The F-22 was designed to be highly difficult to detect and
radar cross-section of the aircraft is reduced by applying radar track by radar. Airframe shaping such as alignment of edges,
absorption paint. When radar waves hit the RAM coating a mag- use of radar-absorbent material (RAM) [4]. fixed geometry ser-
netic field is produced in the metallic elements of the coating pentine inlets and curved vanes that prevent line-of-sight of the
[4]. The magnetic field has alternating polarity and dissipates engine faces and turbines from any exterior view, and attention
the energy of the signal. The energy that is not dissipated by to detail such as hinges and pilot helmets that could provide a
the individual elements is reflected in other elements radar return are measures to reduce RCS. An infrared signature
2. A stealth aircraft is made up of completely flat surfaces and very decreased radio emissions, and an acoustic signature, as well as
sharp edges. When a radar signal hits a stealth plane, the signal reduced visibility to the naked eye, are a bit of advantage in the
reflects away at an angle, like this. Also, surfaces on a stealth design of F-22.

Fig. 1. a. Normal aircraft. b. Stealth aircraft.

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P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 2. a. Sample design. b. Floquet port to the design. (d) Master and Slave boundary conditions in opposite faces.

Fig. 3. (a): Magnetic field distribution of RGO at 2 mm; (b): Electric field distribution of RGO at 2 mm.

2. Methodology the different thickness of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 mm are created. Floquet

port as an excitation on the top surface should be applied to the
HFSS (High-Frequency Structure Simulator) in Ansys is used to design with a transparency of 0.8. in the x and y-axis, as shown
carry out the simulation and to optimize the absorbing property in in Fig. 2 (b) and bottom as perfect E. Master and slave, boundary
which the design model is also created. The basic detail of the conditions are given on the faces of open radiation region in oppo-
design is shown in Fig. 2 (a), Open radiation region is created with site to each other as shown in Fig. 2 (c) and (d). In the solution set
vacuum as a region within the surroundings of the design. With up the range of the frequency is given 12 GHz. In plot fields, electric

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P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 4. (a): Magnetic field distribution of GNP at 2 mm; (b): Electric field distribution of GNP at 2 mm.

Fig. 5. Reflection loss for RGO at 1,1.5,2,2.5,3mm thickness.

Table 1
Reflection loss values of RGO at 8–12 GHz with 1,1.5,2,2.5,3mm thickness.

Sl.no Thickness 1 mm 1.5 mm 2 mm 2.5 mm 3 mm

Frequency(GHz)
1 8 76.555 68.730 67.081 68.211 65.760
2 9 76.007 67.533 66.373 67.520 64.391
3 10 75.854 66.529 65.638 66.834 63.249
4 11 75.802 65.706 64.871 66.133 62.308
5 12 74.540 65.063 64.070 65.411 61.559

Table 2
Reflection loss values of GNP at 8–12 GHz with 1,1.5,2,2.5,3mm thickness.

Sl. Thickness 1 mm 1.5 mm 2 mm 2.5 mm 3 mm

no Frequency
(GHz)
1 8 98.787 83.200 75.900 69.668 79.419
2 9 95.596 80.127 72.761 66.503 76.789
3 10 92.686 77.335 69.981 63.666 74.577
4 11 90.014 74.796 67.518 61.145 72.897
5 12 87.546 72.483 65.327 58.929 71.752

and magnetic fields are applied by which the electric and magnetic
field distribution around the design for varying thickness and com-
position are observed. The main objective of this process to vali-
date which thickness of which composition achieves maximum
Fig. 6. Reflection loss for GNP at 1,1.5,2,2.5,3mm thickness. reflection loss.

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P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig 7. plot for RGO at 3 mm thickness. a. Plot for RGO at 1 mm thickness. b. Plot for RGO at 1.5 mm thickness. c. Plot for RGO at 2 mm thickness.

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P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 8. Plot for GNP at 1 mm thickness. b. Plot for GNP at 1.5 mm thickness. c. Plot for GNP at 2 mm thickness. d. Plot for GNP at 2.5 mm thickness. e. Plot for GNP at 3 mm
thickness.

To achieve this for the above design’s has to be validated and concentrated at the edges of the material and low concentrated
the design has to be saved in which frequency sweep is added at the centre of the faces of the material. It means that both mag-
for the solution setup from 8 to 12GHZ as it’s the radar operating netic and electric field distribution is similar for RGO material.
frequency in the aircraft. Followed by rectangular plots for the Fig. 4 (a) and Fig. 4 (b) show the magnetic and electric field dis-
impedance to frequency and reflection loss to the frequency are tribution of GNP material at 10 GHz frequency respectively. The
obtained. Plots for the impedance matching also drawn with real electric field distribution is highly concentrated at the top edge
and imaginary parts. faces of the material and low concentrated at the bottom part of
the material. The magnetic field distribution is highly concentrated
at the edge of the material and low concentrated at the top face of
3. Results and discussion
the material.
RGO and GNP materials are analyzed in HFSS with different
The electric field and magnetic field distribution for RGO and
thicknesses 1 mm, 1.5 mm, 2 mm, 2.5 mm, and 3 mm. The reflec-
GNP [10] materials are simulated at 10 GHz frequency.Fig 3 (a)
tion loss (RL) [8,9,10] for RGO at different thicknesses is shown in
and 3(b) shows the electric field distribution of RGO material is
Fig. 5. In this graph, reflection loss varies at the frequency from 5 to
more concentrated at edges and less concentrated at the centre
15 GHz. Reflection loss for the 1 mm thickness material is gradu-
of faces. The magnetic field distribution of RGO material is more
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P. Balaji Ananth, N. Abhiram, K. Hari Krishna et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

ally increased up to 10 GHz and it started increasing up to 11.5 GHz aircraft in the view of stealth application with 1 mm thickness as
and suddenly started decreasing by increasing frequency to that per in mentioned variations.
material. For 1.5 mm thickness material, the RL is started rapidly
decreasing up to 11 GHz and after 11 GHz, it started increasing Declaration of Competing Interest
slowly. RL for the 2 mm and 2.5 mm thickness materials decreasing
constantly by increasing frequency and 2.5 mm thickness material The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
has more RL than 2 mm thickness. At final 3 mm thickness material cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
had decreasing RL up to 11 GHz and started increasing slowly. to influence the work reported in this paper.
From this graph, 1 mm thickness material has high RL and 3 mm
thickness material has low RL at 11 GHz frequency. Table 1 References
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