Shaped Radome and Embedded FSS Modeling Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Topic No.: N161-022 Topic Title: Shaped Radome and Embedded FSS Modeling Proposal No.: N161-022-0434 Firm: XL Scientific, LLC 6100 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 260 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 Contact: Bruce Xu Phone: (505) 244-8515 Web Site: http://www.xlscientific.com Abstract: XL Scientific proposes to develop a high-performance computational electromagnetic (CEM) simulation software for use in modeling shaped radomes and embedded frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) on large-scale platforms. Large and complex antennas are commonly used in airborne platforms to transmit and receive signals. Radomes found on airborne platforms often have streamlined shapes to reduce aerodynamic drag. A typical radome is constructed with multiple layers of dielectric materials with or without embedding FSSs. The electromagnetic characteristics of an ideal radome are similar to a band-pass or a band-stop digital filter: it is opaque to hostile signals, but is transparent to friendly ones. Optimizing the radome shape and embedding FFSs can reflect and attenuate unwanted signals, and pass desired signals with less attenuation. The proposed software will use a hybrid simulation approach to characterize an arbitrary shaped radome and simulate multiple antenna interactions on large-scale platforms. The approach is to combine an exact-physics multi-region multi-solver domain decomposition method (MR-MS-DDM) with an asymptotic ray-tracing method. Our approach provides considerable cost savings over measurement-based antenna characterization, as well as time savings, potentially accelerating system development schedules during the design phase. Benefits: The completed Antenna Design and Analysis Toolbox (ADA Toolbox) will be a simulation software that provides a comprehensive and high-performance modeling and simulation (M&S) capability not only for shaped radome and embedded frequency selective surface (FSS) modeling, but also for multiple antennas on large-scale platforms. We will market the commercial tool to both aeronautic industry companies and military airborne elements involved in design of complex antenna systems on aircraft or other platforms, as a way to save time and money in antenna systems design and characterization, advancing schedules in fielding new systems and shortening the time to respond to capability gaps. We envision a high demand in our tool from industry based on the capability for modeling radomes and embedded FSSs in large antenna systems. The toolbox comprises 3 tools: a multi-region multi-solver domain decomposition method based full analysis tool; a ray-tracing method based propagation tool; and a radome characterization tool. Using exact-physics simulation tool as a basis allows for modeling larger systems than can be modeled in other tools, with faster runtimes than are possible from leveraging advanced high performance computing (HPC) architectures alone. It shall also provide a more accurate tool for modeling various radomes. We also expect an equally high level of interest from other branches of the military based on the need for virtual prototyping to advance design processes and to identify radome and FSS issues early in the design phase. We anticipate that our tool will out-perform other commercial antenna analysis software packages in terms of the large problem size that our tool will be able to solve as compared to other commercial tools. Return