Ph.D. Overview

Stealth fighter aircraft

Developement of stealth aircrafts has become a major military requirement in recent times. Stealth refers to avoiding the detection of the object, and the materials capable of attaining this property are called stealth materials. Stealth materials play a vital role in preventing the object’s detection from the RADAR in the case of aircrafts. Ideal properties of RASM includes strong EM absorption across different ranges of the RADAR frequencies, easy for manufacturing, light weight and corrosion resistant. In the present-day scenario, multifunctional materials are being explored in many engineering applications because of their ability to integrate various functions and enhance the system's overall performance. Therefore, the present research proposal focuses on fabricating a multifunctional composite that can avoid detection using higher frequency range radars such as U/VHF radars. Among the multifunctional materials being explored, Magneto Electro Elastic (MEE) composites are unique because of their energy conversion ability between three different fields (magnetic, electric, and elastic fields). Therefore, MEE composites are the potential candidates for stealth applications involving electro-magnetic waves from U/VHF radars. The novelty of the present research proposal lies in two key aspects. The first aspect is modelling and fabricating a polymer composite which can avoid detection of the fighter aircraft even at higher frequencies, unlike many composites reported in the literature. The second aspect is integrated computational and experimental approach and validation of microstructure will provide an efficient experimental campaign, with the latter providing an advantage for further tuning and better predictions

Objective of Research Study:

Stage 1: Development of numerical models of MEE composites using variational asymptotic method (VAM) to attain the effective material properties of the multifunctional composite.

Stage 2: Identify potential filler material to improve the composite material properties and attain the effective material properties using the VAM model obtained in Stage 1.

Stage 3: Fabrication of MEE composite with potential filler material consisting of appropriate material compositions obtained from Stage 2.

Stage 4: The microstructure of the fabricated composite plays a vital role in the overall characterization of the composite. Therefore, material characterization of the composite is investigated using tests like X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Field Emission Scanning electron micro-scope (FESEM) analysis, etc. Also, experiments will be performed to evaluate the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of the composite.

Stage 5: Finally, the stealth performance of the composite is evaluated by exposing the fabricated material to electromagnetic waves under high frequencies using a vector network analyzer.