Characterizing Effects of Aircraft Dynamics on Airborne Antenna Arrays by Generating In-Flight Deformed Geometry for Finite Element Analysis

摘要

This paper describes the development of the Antenna Deformation Tool (ADT), a computer program used to create deformed antenna and support structure geometry from the output from a structural finite element model suitable for use in electromagnetic simulations. The development of this program was motived by the limited ability to characterize the antenna performance of wing-mounted antenna arrays, whose performance is affected by deformations due to in-flight loads. ADT is demonstrated using a representative airborne antenna arrays whose deformed geometry is derived directly from a structural finite element model analysis; it is also demonstrated using generic antenna arrays with deformed geometry derived from user-defined deformation fields. The latter is useful for studies of conformal antennas. The utility of ADT is examined through application to representative wing-mounted antenna arrays, a large eight by eight dipole array, and a UWB antenna element. Currently, robust applications are possible for relatively simple geometry; however, functionality with more complex geometry has also been demonstrated with some limitations.