Study on zonal coating design of absorbing material for a stealth helicopter

Purpose By reducing the coating thickness of the weak scattering source, the coating weight of the absorbing material can be reduced by 35% with little effect on the RCS. Design/methodology/approach To alleviate the weight-increasing problem caused by a large number of coating of absorbing materials, a method for zonal coating of absorbing materials for a stealth helicopter was proposed. By appropriately reducing the thickness of the coating at the secondary scattering locations, the amount of coating used is significantly reduced. Findings Compared with the full-coated, the zonal coating scheme achieves the corresponding RCS reduction effect. Practical implications Zonal coating design can achieve the effect of reducing coating weight and cost. Originality/value The effects of different coating methods on RCS were verified by electromagnetic scattering simulation, and the applicability of the zonal coating design of the absorbing material to the stealth helicopter was verified.