Analysis of Conformal Antennas and Periodic Structures
Doctoral thesis, 2001

In the last decades much attention has been paid to the design of high-performance antennas. Accurate control of the radiation properties is very important in electromagnetic engineering applications. To this end there is a need to develop numerical techniques able to predict in detail the radiation and scattering performance of microwave antennas on planar and curved surfaces. This thesis deals with the analysis of planar and circular cylindrical multilayer structures such as loaded dielectric slabs, corrugated surfaces, frequency selective surfaces and microstrip patches for conformal arrays. The thesis consists of fifteen papers: two published journal articles, ten conference papers, two submitted journal articles and a technical report. Soft surfaces exhibit polarization independent boundary conditions. Because of this property, they can be used in the design of high-performance antennas to minimize undesired radiation effects and to reduce scattering from supporting structures of antennas. Two different applications of soft surfaces are investigated numerically. The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is applied for the analysis of the scattering properties of a monopole antenna on a circular, dielectric-loaded ground plane and the Method of Moments (MoM) is used to investigate and optimize a dual-frequency (S/X-band) corrugated horn. Arrays of periodically spaced conducting elements are often used as filters for microwave applications and are referred to as Frequency Selective Surfaces(FSSs). We have developed algorithms and software for studying the scattering from singly and double periodic surfaces placed either in free space or above a multilayer structure. Both planar and circular cylindrical structures are treated. A spectral domain technique together with the method of moments is used for the analysis. Microstrip antennas are often used in conformal arrays because of their ability to conform to non-planar structures. Algorithms and software have been developed for analyzing different configurations of rectangular microstrip patch antenna arrays, placed on a multilayer circular cylinder. The methods are based on a spectral domain approach and the method of moments. Input impedance, mutual coupling and radiation patterns are calculated and results are validated against measurements on an experimental model.

method of moments

microstrip

corrugated surface

horn

Floquet

array

periodic

multilayer structure

finite difference time domain

dual-frequency

infinite

spectral domain analysis

conformal antenna

Author

Silvia Raffaelli

Chalmers, Department of Electromagnetics

Subject Categories

Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

ISBN

91-7291-055-0

Technical report - School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden: 406

Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 1739

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Created

10/7/2017