Conformal Antenna Array Design on a Missile Platform

Applications ranging from communications to RADAR and even medical devices depend on antenna arrays.  Hand calculations successfully facilitate the construction of stand-alone arrays; however, what happens when the mounting platform becomes a part of the radiating system?  XFdtd® 3D EM Simulation Software ensures that the final design meets all requirements before physical prototyping or manufacturing can begin.  This application note demonstrates the process of adding an electrically steerable, conformal antenna array to the body of a high speed missile.  By leveraging XF7’s XStream® GPU Acceleration, a complex 3D simulation including multiple array elements with curved surfaces that could take several hours was completed within a few minutes.

By: Kyle Labowski, Christopher Penney, and James F. Stack, Jr.