Numerical Simulation of Fatigue Performance in Fiber-reinforced Composites for Antenna Radome

Aiming at the fatigue failure issue of fiber-reinforced composites in lightweight design of the antenna radome, the wave-transparent glass fiber-reinforced composites (a typical material used in the antenna radome) is studied in this paper. The fatigue damage evolution and fatigue life under compression-compression fatigue load are examined by numerical simulation and experiment. A fatigue simulation model correlated with damage modes is established based on a progressive fatigue damage model. Comparative analysis between simulation and experimental results demonstrates that this simulation model can effectively distinguish between different damage evolution and fatigue failure modes of the fiber or the base. The predicted fatigue life exhibits a maximum deviation of 8.6% from experimental data, confirming the validity of simulation model for fatigue life assessment of wave-transparent composites. This study provides a practical engineering approach for fatigue damage analysis and fatigue life prediction in antenna radome applications.