• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.209-219
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• 2009

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown great potential for the reinforcement of polymers or fiber-reinforced composites. In this study, mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)-filled plain-weave glass/epoxy composites intended for use in radar absorbing structures were evaluated with regard to filler loading, microstructure, and fiber volume fraction. The plain-weave composites containing MWNTs exhibited improved matrix-dominant and interlaminar fracture-related properties, that is, compressive and interlaminar shear strength. This is attributed to strengthening of the matrix rich region and the interface between glass yarns by the MWNTs. However, tensile properties were only slightly affected by the addition of MWNTs, as they are fiber-dominant properties.

• Composites Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.68-77
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• 2004

The electromagnetic (EM) absorption or shielding characteristics of a material is an important issue not only for military purpose but also for commercial purposes such as radar, electric or telecommunication devices. In order to design the effective electromagnetic wave absorber, the electromagnetic characteristics of the constituents of the material should be available in target frequency band. Also, it must be possible to predict the electromagnetic properties of absorbers with respect to the content of lossy ingredients. In this study, the dielectric properties of unsaturated polyester resins containing nano-size conductive carbon black powder were measured with a free space method in the X-band frequency range and analyzed with respect to the content of carbon black. Finally, the method for estimating the dielectric properties of polymeric resin containing conductive carbon black with respect to the EM frequency was developed and verified.

• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.225-230
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• 2014

In this study, a novel microwave absorber which consists of a structural part, a resistive sheet, and a low dielectric layer is proposed. Unlike the conventional Salisbury screen, a newly proposed absorber is capable of a range of absorbing performance, from narrowband to broadband. In the case of the narrowband absorber, the fabricated absorber with optimized design parameters has a strong resonance at 9.25 GHz and reflection loss of -44 dB with satisfying the -10 dB absorption in whole X-band (8.2 GHz~12.4 GHz). For the broadband absorber design, the reflectivity was minimized in the considered frequency ranges. The designed absorber showed two weak resonances near 6.5 GHz and 16.5 GHz and satisfied the -10 dB absorption from C-band to Ku-band (4 GHz~18 GHz). The measured reflection loss of fabricated absorber was well matched with simulation results, though the measurement was only performed on X-band. For the Salisbury screen to be capable of broadband absorption, it should be stacked multiply in a structure known as the Jaumann absorber. However, for the microwave absorber presented here, broadband as well as narrowband capabilities can be implemented without a change of the structure.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.101-106
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• 2012

In this study, we investigated the effect of groove pattern and gap-fill with lossy materials at 15 GHz frequency of Ku-band. We used Epoxy/MWCNT composite materials as gap-fill materials. Although epoxy does not have an absorbance capability, epoxy added conductive fillers, which are multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), can function as radar absorbing material. Specimens were fabricated with different MWCNT mass fractions (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 wt%) and their permittivity in the Ku-band was measured using the waveguide technique. We investigated the effect of gap-fill on monostatic RCS by calculating RCS with and without gap-fill. For arbitrarily chosen thickness and experimentally obtained relative permittivity, we chose the relative permittivity of MWCNT at 2 wt% (${\varepsilon}_r$=8.8-j2.4), which was the lowest reflection coefficient for given thickness of 3.3 mm at V-pol. and $80^{\circ}$ incident angle. We also checked the monostatic RCS and the field intensity inside the groove channel. In the case of H-pol, gap-fill was not affected by the monostatic RCS and magnitude was similar with or without gap-fill. However, in the case of V-pol, gap-fill effectively reduced the monostatic RCS. The field intensity inside the groove channel reveals that different RCS behaviors depend on the wave polarizations.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2006

MWNT(multi-walled carbon nanotube)-filled plain-weave glass/epoxy composites were fabricated and electromagnetic characteristics of the composites were investigated. The observation of the microstructures of the composites revealed that MWNTs are mostly distributed in matrix rich region and the interface between glass fiber yarns in warp and fill direction. The permittivity of the composites, measured in X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz) frequency range, increased with weight fraction of MWNTs and remained almost constant with frequency. The measured permittivity was used to investigate the reflection loss of radar absorbing structures (RAS) composed of MWNT-filled composites according to thickness and a RAS were constructed with 10 dB absorbing bandwidth 4.2 GHz and 3.3 mm in thickness.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.42-50
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• 2023

In this study, hexagonal ferrite powder with chemical formula SrZn_2-xCo_xFe₁₆O₂₇ was synthesized by a solid-state reaction method and its electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption characteristics were evaluated in the frequency range of 0.1-18 GHz with absorber thickness range of 0 - 10 mm. Reflection loss (RL) affecting electromagnetic wave absorption performance was calculated based on the transmission line theory using measured complex permeabilities and permittivities. RL spectra were also directly measured for some samples. They were well matched with calculated results. High-frequency complex permeability characteristics were changed gradually according to the amount of Co substitution (x). The EM wave absorption frequency band could be tuned accordingly. Hexaferrite samples with x = 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5 exhibited remarkable maximum electromagnetic wave absorption performances with minimum RL (RL_min) lowered than -50 dB. They also showed a very broad frequency band (Δf > 10 GHz) in which more than 90% of the EM wave energy absorption occurred (RL ≤ -10 dB).