Composite Material Application to the SHF SATCOM Antenna.

摘要

A study was conducted by General Dynamics Convair Division on the application of advanced composite materials to the small ship SHF SATCOM antenna. Composites were studied because of their potential for significant weight savings on the weight-critical mast-located antennas, because of their inherent corrosion resistance, and because of the rapidly decreasing material and fabrication costs of advanced composite structures. Much of the composite technology developed in the aerospace industry in recent years has been demonstrated now on production aircraft programs like the Navy's F-14 and forthcoming F-18 carrier-based fighters, and in spacecraft antennas and structures. This composite technology was found in the study to be directly applicable to the Navy's shipboard SATCOM antennas. This study used as a baseline design, a four-foot variation of Configuration 'B' of the SHF SATCOM system described in Report N00123-72-C-0300 prepared by ITT. The substitution of composite materials in a composite configuration of that antenna, saved over 20% of the system weight, allowing a four-foot system to be designed for the weight of a three-foot system. In addition, the acquisition costs for the two systems were found to be very close, with the composite design being only slightly more costly to procure at todays costs. With the raw material costs of composites expected to match and go below the rising cost of conventional aluminum materials in the mid 1980s, an ultimate cost savings through the use of composites is expected.