Far-Field Pattern Tolerance Analysis of Reflector Antenna with Random or System Error Based on Interval Arithmetic

A novel analytic approach for the research of effect on electromagnetic performance of reflector antennas with deformation, including random processing error and system error caused by external loads (such as wind, gravity, and solar radiation), in panels of the reflector surface is proposed. The deformations are modeled as error intervals, and their impact on the electromagnetic performance, including radiation power pattern and some main electromagnetic characteristics (such as side lobe level, peak power, and half-power beamwidth), are efficiently estimated by Interval analysis (IA). The closed-form equations indicate the relationship between the error interval and the bounds (upper and lower bounds) of the radiated power pattern interval by exploiting the rules of interval arithmetic. Two kinds of surface errors (random and system error) and two shapes of deformation area (bump-like and sector) are taken into account in the numerical examples to assess the validation and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results of the examples show that the proposed IA-based approach has great capability and effectiveness regarding the traditional statistical method (such as Monte-Carlo method).