An FE Tool for the Electromagnetic Analysis of Slow-Wave Helicoidal Structures in Traveling Wave Tubes

In this paper, the authors present a 3-D dedicated finite-element tool expressly conceived for the analysis of traveling wave tool helicoidal slow wave structures (SWSs). Accurate analysis of the SWS is a difficult task due to its complex geometry. Moreover, in order to achieve the design parameters a specific post-processing is required. Consequently, specialized 3-D numerical simulators are needed to carry out the design process. The developed tool includes a dedicated mesh generator, an eigenmode and a driven mode solver, and a post-processing module. An example of a typical SWS analysis performed by using the tool is also given