A 3D-Printed S-Band Corrugated Horn Antenna with X-Band RCS Reduction
Source abstract
Abstract
In this paper, a 3D-printed S-Band corrugated horn antenna with X-Band radar cross section (RCS) reduction is investigated. This work demonstrates effective RCS reduction at the X-band through the application of the phase cancellation principle. Specifically, the corrugated horn antenna is partitioned into eight identical sections, with three discrete height offsets introduced between them. The reflection phase cancellation, which can be attained through the path difference introduced by a designed height step among different regions, leads directly to a consequent suppression of scattered waves. The proposed low-RCS corrugated horn antenna is monolithically fabricated using stereolithography appearance (SLA) 3D printing technology, followed by a surface metallization process. The measured results demonstrate that the proposed antenna operates over the frequency band of 2.34–3.3 GHz in the S-band with good impedance matching, exhibiting a peak gain of 11.7 dB. Furthermore, the monostatic RCS of the antenna under normal incidence for both x- and y-polarizations exhibits a significant reduction of over 10 dB within the frequency range of 8.7–12.0 GHz and 8.2–12.0 GHz, respectively. This indicates that effective stealth performance is achieved across the majority of the X-band. The proposed design integrates exceptional out-of-band RCS reduction, low cost, light weight, and high efficiency, making it a promising candidate for radar stealth system applications.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advanced Antenna and Metasurface Technologies · Microwave Engineering and Waveguides · Antenna Design and Analysis
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
China Academy of Aerospace System and Innovation, Beijing 100063, China
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space TTC&O, Space Engineering University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 101416, China
Funding
National Key R&D Program of China · Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space TTC&O (Space Engineering University), Ministry of Education · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Technology Innovation Guidance Program of Shaanxi Province
References (44)
Show source-provided references
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