Wire Grid Sparse Antennas: Verification of a Modified Modeling Approach

In this paper, the results of a modified approach called the “connected optimal current grid approximation” are verified. This approach is used to model antennas using their approximated sparse wire-grid structure. The verification is performed on the example of a horn antenna and a conical horn antenna modeled and fabricated earlier in other works. The comparisons showed a good agreement. The modified approach proved its ability to design sparse antenna structures that can be used in antenna modeling with less computational costs than the conventional approach of approximating the surface of conducting surfaces with a grid of wires and also less than the proposed earlier approach with the name of “optimal current grid approximation”. The modified approach also proved its ability to design sparse antenna structures to be used in manufacturing such structures with less technical difficulties than the approach proposed earlier. In addition, the structures obtained using the modified approach proposed in this paper have a lower level of sidelobes compared to those obtained using the conventional approach of approximating the surface of conducting surfaces with a grid of wires.