Abstract:
In this paper, two kinds of multi-functional composites integrated with heat-shielding and radar-absorbing were prepared by high pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM), employing traditional phenolic and silicone resin as matrix, needle stitched quartz fiber fabric as reinforcing material, and metamaterials as radar absorbing layers. The effects of microstructure, mechanical properties, and ablation on the microwave absorbing properties of the multi-functional composites were systematically investigated. The results show that the two multi-functional composites prepared have uniform microstructure and excellent mechanical properties. The average reflectivity of the composites in 2-18 GHz are lower than −10 dB, especially in S, C, and X bands, and the effective bandwidth is wider than 9 GHz, which is ascribed to the good transmissivity of the medium layer and the resonant absorption effect of metamaterial layers. However, a continuous carbon layer with high conductivity are formed on the surface of phenolic matrix composite after ablation, which seriously degraded its wave absorbing property. In contrast, the wave absorbing property of silicone matrix composite remains the same due to discontinuity of the carbon layer with band shifting to high frequency, which shows its great application potential in high temperature ablation/stealth field.