Flexible and conformal printed monopoles for reconfigurable antennas

This paper presents the development and design of flexible and conformai printed monopoles for reconfigurable antennas. The main objective is to control the level of radiation in broadside antenna from zero to a maximum by changing the curvature of printed board. Two printed antenna types are considered: thin wire and disk monopole. In the further, with curving radius R increasing, the classical null on the broadside radiation pattern disappears gradually for both wire and disk. Increasing the curvature radius of conformal flexible antenna, and keeping all other parameter's value, wire monopole antenna become mismatched while the disk monopole antenna remains matched for all radius of curvature. The simulated results of various monopoles are compared successfully with measurements.