Composite metamaterial antenna with super mechanical and electromagnetic performances integrated by three-dimensional weaving technique

The integration of structure and function was crucial for the application of microstrip antennas. Layered microstrip antennas were prone to delamination, which severely limits their performance stability. The textile conformal microstrip antenna with integrated structure design prevented the layered failure and greatly improved the damage resistance of the antenna. However, textiles had an inherent deficiency in suppressing surface waves due to their discontinuous mesh structure, critically deteriorating the radiation performance of microstrip antennas. Electromagnetic metamaterial with a specific pattern resonated in the excitation of electromagnetic waves to form a forbidden bandgap, which was expected to suppress surface wave radiation of microstrip antennas. In this study, a textile-based microstrip antenna integrated with electromagnetic metamaterials (MA-EBG) was proposed by embedding conductive copper wires in three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric to form an integrated structure. Due to the function of the forbidden bandgap in metamaterial structure, the surface wave radiation was suppressed and the gain of antenna was increased from 5.1 dB to 9.6 dB. Owing to the tight physical binding, MA-EBG retained its structural integrity with proper electromagnetic performance under the impact of 24 J. The application of electromagnetic metamaterials elevated the gain of textile-based microstrip antennas, which provided a new method for the design of high-gain textile-based microstrip antennas with excellent mechanical properties.