Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 46, 32611 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2009040

Principles and applications of a controllable electromagnetic band gap material to a conformable spherical radome

¹ IEF, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France
² EADS Research Center, 92000 Suresnes, France

Corresponding author: andre.delustrac@ief.u-psud.fr

Received: 10 March 2008
Accepted: 2 February 2009
Published online: 3 April 2009

Abstract

This paper presents the principle of two types of conformable and controllable spherical radome based on Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) materials operating at around 10 GHz. The EBG structure is composed of a grid of metallic wires conformed on a hollow spherical object. Two switching control configurations are considered: (1) between an EBG structure made of electrically continuous wires and another one made of discontinuous wires, and (2) between two EBG structures made of discontinuous wires where each has a different period of discontinuities. Both switching configurations are simulated and experimentally characterized on passive prototypes. An excellent agreement is observed between simulations and measurements. The radiation patterns of two types of antennas, a horn antenna and a meteorological antenna, are also measured in the presence of the radome.