Deformation and Vibration of Conformal Antenna Arrays and Compensation Techniques

Abstract : Conformal antenna arrays fitted to the surface of a non-planar part of modern aircrafts, vehicles or ships are considered an attractive alternative for certain applications where planar arrays or reflector antennas have definite drawbacks. Some of the potential advantages are improved aerodynamics, increased payload, large field of view (LFOV) and low observability. The occurrence of static and dynamic deformations can have a severe impact on the performance of conformal antennas on aircrafts and other vehicles. Therefore it is essential to study the different deformation and vibration mechanisms and their influence on the antenna system. The present paper gives an overview over different tools for the electromagnetic modelling and design of conformal array antennas. A method for the passive compensation of static deformations and vibrations based on the estimation of the elements position and the deformed array shape will be presented. Examples of the numerical analysis of conformal array geometries with deformations and the resulting effects on the system (i.e. antenna parameters such as beam width, sidelobe level, pointing error etc.) will be shown.