Electromechanical coupling based performance evaluation of distorted phased array antennas with random position errors

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Wang, Congsi^{a; b} | Kang, Mingkui^{a; *} | Wang, Wei^a | Zhong, Jianfeng^c | Zhang, Yiqun^c | Jiang, Chao^d | Duan, Baoyan^a

Affiliations: [a] Key Laboratory of Electronic Equipment Structure Design, Ministry of Education, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China | [b] Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA | [c] Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [d] State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Mingkui Kang, Key Laboratory of Electronic Equipment Structure Design, Ministry of Education, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shannxi 710071, China. E-mail:mkkang@stu.xidian.edu

Abstract: The influences of the random error and mechanical distortion on the electromagnetic performances of phased array antenna (PAA) are of great significance to the research on and development of the high-performance antennas. A coupled structural-electromagnetic model of PAA is developed to describe the effect of random error and mechanical distortion on the performances of antenna. The application of the model to a planar array antenna demonstrates the variation of the sidelobe level and gain with different random errors and different distortion grades respectively. The valuable results provide a theoretical guidance for the engineer to determine the optimal performance-driven structural tolerance.

Keywords: Phased array antenna, electromechanical coupling, random error, mechanical distortion

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-150170

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 285-295, 2016