I'm looking for a good radome material with the following properties. Low dielectric loss factor. Good weather resistance and UV stability. Good impact resistance. -40 to +60°C temperature range. Must be easily available in China. Need some 8 or 9mm thick sheets for machining Any ideas?
I seem to recall fiberglass is being used. Also, gore tex was being tested with amazing results... found this on the googles... http://www.engineered-radomes.com/id3.html
Plywood has been used, and it's certainly readily available though you'd need to paint it for weather protection... years ago my father's company (a carpentry contractor) built some plywood radomes to go on top of one of the buildings in [IIRC] Rockefeller Center (NYC).
Hi, For a simple machinable material you can use Ultem (look it up). If you require some contructional strength you should consider designing a composite structure made of glass or quartz fiber fabrics.
I have heard of the miltary using polyimide/ astroquartz on a supersonic (~500F) radome, and yes - poorhouse - lots of money. I think this is why they have different kinds of fiberglass, E glass and S glass. http://agy.com/technical_info/graphics_PDFs/Mech. Prop. S-glass composites.SAMPE Seattle.2001.pdf
Get in touch via Internet to Quadrant Company who acquired the Solidur Company where i used to buy very good ans tough plastic materials. (No need to go to China unless they do....). Recommend to get "Annealed" materials that do not distort after the machining operation. This is extremely important. Let me know how you doing: [email protected]
Hey,are do looking for some materials to be machined? Maybe you can show us some pictures.I know some company make kind of glass fiber for radome protection cover.