Bioinspired Double-Broadband Switchable Microwave Absorbing Grid Structures with Inflatable Kresling Origami Actuators

Tunable radar stealth structures are critical components for future military equipment because of their potential to further enhance the design space and performance. Some previous investigations have utilized simple origami structures as the basic adjusting components but failed to achieve the desired broadband microwave absorbing characteristic. Herein, a novel double-broadband switchable microwave absorbing grid structure has been developed with the actuators of inflatable Kresling origami structures. Geometric constraints are derived to endow a bistable feature with this origami configuration, and the stable states are switched by adjusting the internal pressure. An ultra-broadband microwave absorbing structure is proposed with a couple of complementary microwave stealth bands, and optimized by a particle swarm optimization algorithm. The superior electromagnetic performance results from the mode switch activating different absorbing components at corresponding frequencies. A digital adjusting strategy is applied, which effectively achieves a continuously adjusting effect. Further investigations show that the proposed structure possesses superior robustness. In addition, minimal interactions are found between adjacent grid units, and the electromagnetic performance is mainly related to the duty ratio of the units in different states. They have enhanced the microwave absorbing performance of grid structures through a tunable design, a provided a feasible paradigm for other tunable absorbers.