The Effect of Manufacturing and Assembling Tolerances on the Performance of Double-Ridged Horn Antennas

Double Ridged Guide Horn antennas are highly sensitive to tolerances in machining and assembly. This study shows that most of the sensitivity problems can be attributed to gaps formed between various subsections in the waveguide launcher assembly. The coaxial feeding section is especially sensitive to manufacturing tolerances. It was found that gaps between the ridges and feeding section causes deep resonances in the on axis gain. Due to the small tolerances involved, a highly detailed broadband simulation model of the antenna that includes a coaxial feeding section as well as an N-type connector had to be used in the investigation. The model is implemented in the electromagnetic simulation software package FEKO, which uses the method of moments (MoM) technique to calculate the electromagnetic fields. Gaps between the subsections of the waveguide launcher were implemented in the simulation model and compared to typical measured results. Excellent agreement between measured and simulated data is obtained. Corrective measures as well as improved designs for the waveguide launcher section are presented.

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