FRP Composite Antenna Radomes, Radar Masts, and Phone Masts

Glass fibre reinforced plastic has a special set of properties that make it perfect for manufacturing housings for antenna and radar equipment. Read on to discover what’s so great about pultruded radomes, and the kind of adverse conditions it can cope with!

FRP has a very special property that makes it perfect for communications technologies – it is a dialectic material, transparent to radio waves. It’s also highly resistant to extreme weather conditions. This combination makes it the perfect alternative to aluminium and steel for use in communications technology across a wide range of applications.

Radomes for Phone Masts

Pultruded composites are lightweight, which means they are easy to transport and install. This is particularly advantageous when erecting phone masts in remote locations where traditional steel masts would have been costly and awkward to locate.

FRP composites are also resistant to chemical erosion, stand up well to extremes of temperature and the dialectic permittivity allows for a superior strength of signal.

Radomes for Marine Applications

Pultruded FRP can also be used to make radar masts for yachts, ships, and ferries. Again, the light weight of a pultruded profile compared to traditional counterparts is a huge advantage for housing radar equipment – in some cases achieving a 30% mass reduction.

Pultruded composites can be made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, enabling manufacturers to create radomes that can stand up to high winds and high speeds.

Radomes for Defence Communications

Clarity of signal is essential in defence communications, as it is needed for protection of delicate parts! FRP composite is not only transparent to radio waves, it is also a highly durable material – key reasons why it is being used to protect military antenna and radar equipment.

Carbon fibre composites have added strength and even lower weight compared to its glass fibre pultruded counterparts. The cost of production is higher, but the benefits greatly outweigh this when it comes to applications where strength and reliability can’t be compromised.