volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

An accurate and efficient computational approach is presented for analyzing radiation characteristics of large antenna arrays with radome. This approach is based on the hybrid finite element-boundary integral-multilevel fast multipole algorithm (FE-BI-MLFMA). Unlike the conventional single-domain FE-BI-MLFMA, the whole domain of the antenna array with radome is separated into many disconnected domains. A large free space area unavoidable in the single-domain FE-BI-MLFMA is eliminated in this multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA formulation, thus the number of unknowns is greatly reduced in the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA approach. Different from the single-domain FE-BI-MLFMA, many integral equations are required in this multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA. The numerical experiment shows that the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA is more efficient than the single-domain one while maintaining the same accuracy. A whole complicated system of a slotted-waveguide array with radome mounted on an aircraft is analyzed to further demonstrate the generality and capability of the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA.

1. Gordon, R.-K. and R. Mittra, "Finite element analysis of axisymmetric radomes," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 41, No. 7, 975-981, 1993.
doi:10.1109/8.237631

2. Arvas, E. and S. Ponnapalli, "Radar cross section of a small radome of arbitrary shape," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 37, No. 5, 655-658, 1989.
doi:10.1109/8.24194

3. Gao, X.-J. and L.-B. Felsen, "Complex ray analysis of beam transmission through two-dimensinal radomes," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 33, No. 9, 963-975, 1985.
doi:10.1109/TAP.1985.1143711

4. Shifflett, J.-A., "CADDRAD: A physical optics radar/radome analysis code for arbitrary 3D geometries," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 39, No. 6, 73-79, 1997.
doi:10.1109/74.646806

5. Stevenson, A.-F., "The theory of slots in rectangular waveguides," J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 19, 24-38, Jan. 1948.
doi:10.1063/1.1697868

6. Oliner, A.-A., "The impedance properties of narrow radiating slots in the broad face of rectangular waveguide," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 5, 4-20, Jan. 1957.
doi:10.1109/TAP.1957.1144488

7. Krant, E.-A., J.-C. Olinier, and J.-B. West, "FDTD solution of Maxwell’s equations for an edge slot penetrating adjacent broadwalls of finite wall thickness waveguide," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 42, 1646-1648, Dec. 1994.
doi:10.1109/8.362808

8. Prakash, V.-V.-S., S. Christopher, and N. Balakrishnan, "Method-of-Moments analysis of the narrow-wall slot array in a rectangular waveguide," IEE Proc., Microw. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 147, 242-246, Jun. 2000.
doi:10.1049/ip-map:20000261

9. Young, J.-C., J. Hirokawa, and M. Ando, "Analysis of a rectangular waveguide, edge slot array with finite wall thickness," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 55, 812-819, Mar. 2007.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2007.891806

10. Zhao, W.-J., Y.-B. Gan, C.-F. Wang, et al. "Coupled IE-PO method for analysis of antenna radiation patterns in the presence of a large 3D radome," IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society International Symposium, 695-698, 2004.

11. Zhao, X.-W., Y. Zhang, H.-W. Zhang, D. Garcia-Donoro, S.-W. Ting, T. K. Sarkar, and C.-H. Liang, "Parallel MoM-PO method with out-of-core technique for analysis of complex arrays on electrically large platforms," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 108, 1-21, 2010.
doi:10.2528/PIER10072108

12. Nie, X.-C., Y.-B. Gan, N. Yuan, C.-F. Wang, and J. L.-W. Li, "An efficient hybrid method for analysis of slot arrays enclosed by a large radome," Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications, Vol. 20, No. 2, 249-264, 2006.
doi:10.1163/156939306775777215

13. Hu, B., X.-W. Xu, M. He, and Y. Zheng, "More accurate hybrid PO-MoM analysis for an electrically large antenna-radome structure," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 92, 255-265, 2009.
doi:10.2528/PIER09022301

14. Meng, H.-F. and W.-B. Dou, "Fast analysis of electrically large radome in millimeter wave band with fast multipole acceleration," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 120, 371-385, 2011.
doi:10.2528/PIER11081101

15. Eibert, T. and V. Hansen, "Calculation of unbounded field problems in free space by a 3-D FEM/BEM-hybrid approach," Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications, Vol. 10, No. 1, 61-77, 1996.
doi:10.1163/156939396X00216

16. Sheng, X.-Q., J.-M. Song, C.-C. Lu, and W.-C. Chew, "On the formulation of hybrid finite-element and boundary-integral method for 3D scattering," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 46, 303-311, Mar. 1998.
doi:10.1109/8.662648

17. Liu, J. and J.-M. Jin, "A highly effective preconditioner for solving the finite element-boundary integral matrix equation for 3-D scattering," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 50, 1212-1221, Sep. 2002.

18. Yang, M.-L., H.-W. Gao, and X.-Q. Sheng, "Parallel domain-decomposition-based algorithm of hybrid FE-BI-MLFMA method for 3-D scattering by large inhomogeneous objects," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 50, No. 2, 4675-4684, Sep. 2013.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2013.2271232

19. Xue, M.-F. and J.-M. Jin, "A hybrid conformal/nonconformal domain decomposition methods for solving large-scale multi-region electromagnetic problems," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 62, No. 4, 2009-2021, Apr. 2014.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2014.2300149

20. Amestoy, P.-R., I.-S. Duff, J. Koster, and J.-Y. L’Excellent, "A fully asynchronous multifrontal solver using distributed dynamic scheduling," SIAM Journal of Matrix Analysis and Applications, Vol. 23, 15-41, Jan. 2001.
doi:10.1137/S0895479899358194

Dr. Xu-Min Sun

Dr. Ming-Lin Yang

Professor Xin-Qing Sheng