A novel new concept to develop an inexpensive and effective Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) had been explored in response to the navy's sbir program solicitation. The concept is to utilize polymeric beads as a new type of ram. Cross-linked porous polymeric beads are hollow microspheres with three-dimensional network which can absorb electromagnetic wave energy and dissipate the energy within the three-dimension network cage. Important properties such as dielectric strength, dielectric constant, dissipation factor, coefficient of thermal expnsion, thermal conductivity, deflection temperature under load, hardness, and tensile yield strength have been examined in phase i to optimize material selection process. A ranking system for material selected has been devised and the top five promising candidates have been identified and selected in phase I. In phase II we will perform the following tasks to implement the findings from phase I work: (1) procurement and synthesis of candidate rams; (2) coating and lamination of candidate rams; (3) development of testing methods and procedures for ram evaluation; (4) measurement and data collection of candidate rams; (5) data reduction and analysis, (6) demonstration of mass production potentials.
