Parallel-Fed Planar Dipole Antenna Arrays for Low-Observable Platforms (eBook)

This book focuses on determination of scattering of parallel-fed planar dipole arrays in terms of reflection and transmission coefficients at different levels of the array system. In aerospace vehicles, the phased arrays are often in planar configuration. The radar cross section (RCS) of the vehicle is mainly due to its structure and the antennas mounted over it. There can be situation when the signatures due to antennas dominate over the structural RCS of the platform. This necessitates the study towards the reduction and control of antenna/ array RCS. The planar dipole array is considered as a stacked linear dipole array. A systematic, step-by-step approach is used to determine the RCS pattern including the finite dimensions of dipole antenna elements. The mutual impedance between the dipole elements for planar configuration is determined. The scattering till second-level of couplers in parallel feed network is taken into account. The phase shifters are modelled as delay line. All the couplers in the feed network are assumed to be four port devices. It is shown that the array RCS can be reduced considerably for a low observable platform by an optimization of array design parameters even in the presence of mutual coupling. This book presents a systematic step-by-step analytical formulation for RCS of planar half-wavelength centre-fed dipole arrays through various schematics and illustrations. The analytical description and analysis provided in this book should be useful for students, researchers, and design engineers of phased arrays.

Dr. Hema Singh is currently working as Senior Scientist in Centre for Electromagnetics of CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India. Earlier, she was Lecturer in EEE, BITS, Pilani, India during 2001-2004. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Electronics Engineering from IIT-BHU, Varanasi India in 2000. Her active area of research is Computational Electromagnetics for Aerospace Applications. More specifically, the topics she has contributed to, are GTD/UTD, EM analysis of propagation in an indoor environment, Phased Arrays, Conformal Antennas, Radar Cross Section (RCS) Studies including Active RCS Reduction. She received Best Woman Scientist Award in CSIR-NAL, Bangalore for period of 2007-2008 for her contribution in area of phased antenna array, adaptive arrays, and active RCS reduction. Dr. Singh has co-authored one book, one book chapter, and over 120 scientific research papers and technical reports.

Ms. Chandini R. obtained her BE (ECE) degree from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Karnataka. She was a Project Engineer at the Centre for Electromagnetics of CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, where she worked on RCS studies and conformal arrays.

Dr. Rakesh Mohan Jha was Chief Scientist & Head, Centre

for Electromagnetics, CSIR-National Aero space Laboratories, Bangalore. Dr. Jha obtained a dual degree in BE (Hons.) EEE and MSc (Hons.) Physics from BITS, Pilani (Raj.) India, in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. (Engg.) degree from Department of Aerospace Engineering of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1989, in the area of computational electromagnetics for aerospace applications. Dr. Jha was a SERC (UK) Visiting Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science in 1991. He worked as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for High-Frequency Techniques and Electronics of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany (1992-1993, 1997). He was awarded the Sir C.V. Raman Award for Aerospace Engineering for the Year 1999. Dr. Jha was elected Fellow of INAE in 2010, for his contributions to the EM Applications to Aerospace Engineering. He was also the Fellow of IETE and Distinguished Fellow of ICCES. Dr. Jha has authored or co-authored several books, and more than five hundred scientific research papers and technical reports. He passed away during the production of this book of a cardiac arrest.

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This book focuses on determination of scattering of parallel-fed planar dipole arrays in terms of reflection and transmission coefficients at different levels of the array system. In aerospace vehicles, the phased arrays are often in planar configuration. The radar cross section (RCS) of the vehicle is mainly due to its structure and the antennas mounted over it. There can be situation when the signatures due to antennas dominate over the structural RCS of the platform. This necessitates the study towards the reduction and control of antenna/ array RCS. The planar dipole array is considered as a stacked linear dipole array. A systematic, step-by-step approach is used to determine the RCS pattern including the finite dimensions of dipole antenna elements. The mutual impedance between the dipole elements for planar configuration is determined. The scattering till second-level of couplers in parallel feed network is taken into account. The phase shifters are modelled as delay line. All the couplers in the feed network are assumed to be four port devices. It is shown that the array RCS can be reduced considerably for a low observable platform by an optimization of array design parameters even in the presence of mutual coupling. This book presents a systematic step-by-step analytical formulation for RCS of planar half-wavelength centre-fed dipole arrays through various schematics and illustrations. The analytical description and analysis provided in this book should be useful forstudents, researchers, and design engineers of phased arrays.