Scan blindness phenomenon in conformal finite phased arrays of printed dipoles

• Published in: IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 1699 - 1708
• Main Authors: Erturk, V.B., Bakir, O., Rojas, R.G., Guner, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.2006; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antenna arrays; Antennas; Applied sciences; Arrays; Blindness; Coated cylinders; conformal arrays; Current distribution; Curvature; Cylinders; Dielectric substrates; Dipole antennas; Dipoles; Engine cylinders; Exact sciences and technology; Green's function; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; method of moments (MoM); Moment methods; Mutual coupling; Phased arrays; Radiocommunications; scan blindness; Studies; Surface waves; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Mutual coupling; Cylindrical antenna; Moment method; Printed antenna; Dipole antenna arrays; Surface wave; method of moments (MoM); Conformal antenna array; Green's function; Planar antenna arrays; Phased array antenna; Coatings; Dipole antenna; Green function; Coated material; conformal arrays; scan blindness; Circular cylinder; Current distribution; Numerical simulation; Coated cylinders; Antenna array
• ISSN: 0018-926X; 1558-2221
• DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2006.875482

Scan blindness phenomenon for finite phased arrays of printed dipoles on material coated, electrically large circular cylinders is investigated. Effects on the scan blindness mechanism of several array and supporting structure parameters, including curvature effects, are observed and discussed. A full-wave solution, based on a hybrid method of moments/Green's function technique in the spatial domain, is used to achieve the aforementioned goals. Numerical results show that the curvature affects the surface waves and hence the mutual coupling between array elements. As a result, the array current distribution of arrays mounted on coated cylinders are considerably different compared to similar arrays on planar platforms. Therefore, finite phased arrays of printed dipoles on coated cylinders show different behavior in terms of scan blindness phenomenon compared to their planar counterparts. Furthermore, this phenomenon is completely different for axially and circumferentially oriented printed dipoles on coated cylinders suggesting that particular element types might be important for cylindrical arrays.