Aerodynamic and Structural Optimisation of Maritime Patrol Radar System Radome using Evolutionary Algorithms

Abstract

Airborne early warning systems are deployed for collecting surveillance information on airborne enemy targets in real-time. The Maritime Patrol Radar system is used for surveillance of sea surface for various types of ships and low flying aircraft. Radio Detection And Ranging system, or RADAR, in short, is an Electromagnetic sensor integrated on such airborne platforms. An antenna of this radar system is generally mounted under the belly of the aircraft and protected by a cover called a radome. This radome is installed to protect the radar antenna from environmental disturbances. Due to the installation of the radome, increased drag is experienced by aircraft during its flight due to resistance to the flow of the oncoming air. Radome design is a multidisciplinary effort involving structural, aerodynamics, and electromagnetic disciplines. In this study, the multi-disciplinary design of the maritime patrol aircraft radome for optimality in terms of structural strength and aerodynamic performance is carried out by integrating both disciplinary analyses on an optimisation software platform. The utopia point in terms of these two disciplines is found.