Failure analysis on antistatic coatings on radome

The inelastic and elastic antistatic coatings on the surface of airborne radome failed under the condition of different service duration. The damage of the inelastic coating was more serious than the elastic coating. The failure causes of the antistatic coating on the radome were analyzed by visual inspection, accelerated ageing, falling abrasive test, strength and elongation test, in-layer adhesion test and finite element analysis. The results show that the failure of inelastic and elastic antistatic coatings was caused by particles erosion, and the aging of the coatings accelerated the failure of coatings. There was shear deformation of normal and tangential direction on the coating surface during erosion. The low elasticity, fracture elongation and deformation ability of the inelastic coating made erosion energy concentrate on local areas, resulting in the coating cracking and powdering flake. The elastic coating had better anti-erosion ability than the inelastic coating because of its high fracture elongation and good elastic deformation, so its damage was lighter than the inelastic coating.