Design and Analysis of Conformal Ku-Band Microstrip Patch Antenna Arrays

A novel approach for the simulation of conformal microstrip patch antenna arrays is presented. 1 x 2 and 1 x 4 microstrip arrays operating at 16 GHz were designed and their radiation characteristics were simulated and analyzed as a function of bending. The performance characteristics modeled include S-parameters, radiation patterns, 3-dB beamwidths, side lobe levels, VSWR and radiation efficiency. For the 1 x 2 array, the degradation in performance in observed for the bent arrays compared to the planar case. However, there is not a significant change in the parameters as there is an increase in the bending radius. As we increase the number of elements in the array, interelement coupling becomes more important. Although a better performance in gain and directivity is obtained for the 1 x 4 planar array compared to the 1 x 2 planar array, the performance parameters degrade more with respect to the bending of the array. A maximum gain of 13.65 dB with 16.7 degrees 3-dB beamwidth was achieved at Ku-band. Furthermore, it is shown that the gain, resonance frequency, 3-dB beamwidth, radiation efficiency decreases as bending of the array structure increases. The proposed design can be used in many applications including telemetry, satellites, aircraft and medical operations. This modeling effort is a prelude to development of printed antennas on flexible substrates.