Analysis and design of heating systems for advanced automotive Radomes
[eng] The main purpose of this thesis is to study how we could obtain a transparent heating system for a Radome. In the context of this thesis, transparent have two different meanings that are tied due to the objective of our research. First, transparent means that the heating system have not to dis...
| Autor: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de la UB |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/180873 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/180873 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/672689 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Radar Pel·lícules fines Indústria auxiliar d'automoció Thin films Automobile supplies industry |
| Resumo: | [eng] The main purpose of this thesis is to study how we could obtain a transparent heating system for a Radome. In the context of this thesis, transparent have two different meanings that are tied due to the objective of our research. First, transparent means that the heating system have not to disturb the electromagnetic radiation from the radar. And, secondly, and because of the industrial nature of this thesis, the heating system have not to be seen by an external observer, or, we can also say that it has not to disturb the aspect of the exterior decoration of the Radome. After previous studies of different possible options, we get focus on Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCO) applications to get a heating system different from these that already exist to warm, defrost, and avoid ice on the surface of Radomes used on some vehicles [1], [2], [3]. Different elements and concepts needed to be considered for the developing of the TCO: - How to deposit TCO - Optimal sheet resistance - Optimal circuit designs - Effect of radar polarization - Attenuation of radar electromagnetic waves - Adhesion of the TCO on the substrate - Heating and attenuation requirements from vehicle’s companies - Electrical connection and Power supply Considering all the points mentioned we will be able to design two different heating systems based on TCO’s that are transparent to the human eye and minimize the attenuation of electromagnetic radiation of the radar. The TCO depositions are used in two different ways depending on how important the polarization of the radar radiation is for the heating system, this way we can differentiate two heating systems: First, we see from previous studies made at the company, that a very thin film with a high resistance, more than 3500 Ohms/square, is almost transparent to the radar and it does not require any more process than the deposition. In this case the most important point is that no definite orientation of the film is needed since the film is homogeneous. So, it is not conditioned by the polarization of the radar radiation. In this part of the thesis, we develop thin film coatings of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and Al doped ZnO (AZO) at the Univeristy of Barcelona and at the University of Zaragoza. The development of this system is explained in chapter 3. Secondly, we developed a system similar to those we have today commercially that uses copper heating wires, but in our approach, we do it with TCO wires that are not visible for human eye and that are placed on the surface of the Radome. In this way we improve the thermal efficiency of the heating system with respect to copper wires systems since our heating system is almost in direct contact to ice and water, solely a film of few microns of varnish would protect the system from the outside in a real case. In this case the attenuation of radar radiation caused by the heating system is between -0.1 dB and -0.2 dB. when the heating wires are correctly oriented with the radar polarization. In this part of the Thesis, we just use ITO as the TCO material for the wires. The development of this system is explained in chapter 5. |
|---|