A Conformal Phased Array Antenna with Improved Gain on a Cylindrical Surface

Abstract

The manuscript reports phase compensation technique for improving the directionality and gain of a conformal phased array antenna on a cylindrical surface while steering the beam. The investigation reports two different components of phase compensation required for enhancing the directionality: (i) compensation required to mitigate the effect due to the vertical displacements of antenna elements on the conformal surface and (ii) additional phase shift required to align the broadside of each element in the direction of scan angle. It is highly effective in the restoration of the beam of a phased array mounted on conformal surfaces of a smaller radius causing significant deformation in the radiation pattern. The proposed formulation is implemented through Matlab and verified using CST for a 1-D circumferential phased array with 7 elements of a rectangular patch antenna of dimensions L = 8.72 mm and W = 14.52 mm designed for 10 GHz on a cylindrical surface of 10 cm radius. The model is also applicable to a Concave conformal phased array and can be extended to 2-D arrays. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on such a study and will find direct applications in the design and development of conformal phased arrays with high directionality and gain.