Analysis and element pattern design of periodic arrays of circular apertures on conducting cylinders

The analysis and the design of elements for a large array of circular apertures on a triangular grid is approached by modeling the antenna as an infinite structure rotationally symmetric and periodic along the cylinder axis. Because of this particular symmetry, every possible excitation is the superposition, with suitable weights, of a set of fundamental excitations having uniform magnitude and linear phase progression in the azimuthal direction and in the direction of the cylinder axis ("eigenexcitations"). Thus by invoking superposition, the electromagnetic analysis of the array is reduced to the solutions of the simpler boundary value problems pertinent to the set of eigenexcitations. This is done by expanding the field in normal modes in the region exterior to the cylinder and in the waveguides feeding the apertures, followed by a field matching at the cylinder surface (obtained approximately through Galerkin's method). The realized gain pattern of the radiators can be modified to a considerable extent by using an "element pattern shaping network" (in the radiator waveguides), serving the purpose of matching the array for a selected eigenexcitation. Criteria for the network design are given. A series of numerical examples illustrate the technique and shows that a "flat" element pattern can be thus obtained with a gain falloff with respect to the peak of less than 6 dB at 80 degrees, and an increase of 2 to 3 dB in the gain at 80 degrees with respect to that obtained for the same elements matched at broadside.